Continuum of Chaos
by Raiyaka
Summary: Five children mysteriously appear in Konoha, bringing with them the mystery of who they are and what their connection with Sasuke and Naruto are? SasuNaru-Yaoi
1. Shadows Fading

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**SUMMARY:** Five children mysteriously appear in Konoha. Bringing with them the mystery of who they are, and what their connection with Naruto and Sasuke are.

**WARNINGS:** SasuNaru-yaoi-male/male relationship. Graphic sexual scenes. Violence.

**NOTE: **HELLO READERS! I know, I've been a very BAD person! But the good thing is that I put two of my stories back up, and will be working on them again. Thanks to a reader, who somehow got my e-mail address (I think she got it from Deviant Art, but not completely sure.) and personally e-mailed me on this story, asking me to continue it.

Where I got the _idiotic_ urge to completely remove them will forever be a mystery to me. Especially when I had over 200 reviews on this story. Oh well, I'll just have to start from scratch again.

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter one

**Shadows Fading**

A deafening explosion resounding through the air, engulfing a house in flames. The smoke that was rising in abundance could be seen from villagers from a mile away. Screams could vaguely be heard over the violent storm that decorated the sky above.

A crack of lightning flashed across the blackened sky. Slightly illuminating the two figures running through the dense forest. The thunder that followed making the ones they were carrying whimper and squirm in their arms. Rain was pouring down upon them mercilessly. Their feet sinking into the ground with each step. Their breathing coming in ragged breaths as they raced against their pursuers.

"Nii-san...they're catching up!" the young female yelled franticly over the howling wind. Her body numb from the freezing rain and her arms tired from her sibling she was carrying.

The young male glanced back at his sister. Yelling, "Just keep moving! We have to keep moving!" shifting his other two siblings in his arms as he kept running. Pushing his tiring legs to go farther, to keep at the pace they were at. Always making sure that his sister was right behind him.

The male whipped his ahead in different directions with his blood red eyes as he heard an eerie laughter echo around them. But couldn't pinpoint the location thanks to the storm raging overhead.

"_There's no place to run, no place to hide! We're coming for you, don't you cry!_"

Came a singsong voice ringing throughout the area. _'Damn they're playing with us...'_ he thought with fright. Swerving in another direction where he thought their pursuers weren't located. His sister following a few steps behind.

"_We'll cut you to pieces, burn you to bits! You're gonna die slowly, don't resist!_"

Sang the voice again before bursting into another fit of laughter. The boy's heart was thumping loudly in his chest with unadulterated fear. Mentally praying to every God that he could think of, that he would be able to protect his siblings from, what seemed like, a certain death.

He heard a soft scream from behind and immediately spun on his heels. His heart momentarily stopped when he saw his sister on the ground, clutching their other sister close to her with one hand and using the other one to keep herself propped up. He quickly moved to her and crouched down in front of her. Thinking she got hurt or something. He placed their brother and sister that he was carrying on the ground. "Chidori, are you alright? What's wrong?" he asked, his voice showing the obvious worry he was feeling.

Chidori looked up at her older brother with her own blood red eyes. The tears she was crying blending in the rain that was falling. "T-they're going to k-kill us..." she murmured out between sobs. "Nii-san, I-I w-want Tou-san!"

Raiden gently grabbed her head with both hands and looked at her in her eyes. "Tou-san isn't here! So we have to protect ourselves, you understand me?!" he yelled sternly over the storm. "We have to protect them!" indicating their three younger siblings. "Now come on, get up!" he ordered as he rose from the ground and picked up his brother and sister with shaky arms.

Chidori wiped her face, which only caused mud to be smeared all over her face. But that was the last thing she was going to worry about right now. She rose to her feet and adjusted her sister she had in her arms. This wasn't the time she should be breaking down. She needed to help her brother to protect their siblings. And with that, they sped off again.

As they weaved through the trees, Raiden could feel their pursuers getting closer. He looked in the direction where he could feel their presence with his blood red eyes. And sure enough, his eyes caught the movement of them. A lot closer than he expected they were. _'Dammit...'_ he thought as panic began to rise within him. He knew they were at least jounin and that he probably could hold them off for a little bit if he wasn't already tired. But he was, which made their chances even slimmer.

A kunai came soaring towards them. Which he managed to catch the movement of at the last minute, leaping out of the way from getting struck. When landing he slipped on the wet ground as he tried to reposition his footing. Falling painfully on his butt and back shoulder. His siblings in his arms crying uncontrollably.

Chidori stopped at his side. "Nii-san!" kneeling down and trying to help him up with one arm. Her other arm holding her surprisingly quiet sister. He quickly sat up, ignoring the pain in his backside and shoulder and handed his sister and brother toward his sister. "Here." he said as he got back on his feet.

They couldn't run any longer. The enemies were too close, they would never out run them. He scanned around the area for any movement while positioning himself in a fighting stance. "Stay back." he ordered his sister.

She took the three youngest to a safe distance and brought out two kunai from her weapons pouch. Ignoring her pounding heart as she held one kunai in each hand, ready to to protect her sibling at all cost.

"Oh looky! They think they stand a chance against us!" said a female voice in a mocking tone. With that eerie laughter following suit.

Raiden looked in the general direction where he thought the female's voice came from and saw a figure jump down from a branch. _'1..'_ he thought, hoping to find at least all the locations of their pursuers. He snapped his head to the far left when he caught movement from the second person emerging from there hiding spot from behind a bush. _'2..'_ blinking his eyes a couple of times from the falling rain. _'Where's the third?' _Having a suspicion that it's a team of three that were trying to kill them.

"Three..." he heard close to his right ear. His eyes widened, not even sensing this person get so close. But before he could turn to look at the third person, he was violently punched in the side of his face. Sending him tumbling a good distance in the mud. He twisted his body so he could stop on his feet and looked up just in time as the third enemy shot toward him. He flipped himself out of the way and when he landed he blocked an oncoming attack from the second enemy. Then swirled around and blocked another punch from the third enemy with his leg. And this is how it continued with him being completely on the defensive. His body tiring more the longer this went on.

Chidori worriedly watched the battle going on a few yards in front of her. Knowing full well if it kept going like it was, her brother would be dead in no time. And she couldn't bare if that happened.

The first enemy looked in her direction and cocked her head weirdly. Then headed toward her at an alarming rate. Her breath quicken as she blocked a powerful kick directed at her side. Making her stumble on her back from the force of the impact.

"For being one of their daughters, you sure are a weak one." said the enemy as she walked closer to the younger ones. "Now you can watch me kill your sisters and brother." her singsong voice making Chidori shiver as the enemy brought out her sword and readying it above her head.

Chidori snapped her leg out and made brutal contact with the other's shins. Then she used her other leg and kicked the enemy in the face. Sending her to the ground. Chidori then flipped herself back on her feet. "You stay the hell away from them." she growled out. Her blood red eyes now with animalistic slits. _'I have to do something...anything!' _

She put the kunai that she was still holding back into her weapon's pouch. Then brought her hands together and closed her eyes. She tried to calm her rapid heartbeat as she focused and began gathering chakra. _'Please know what I'm doing Nii-san.' _

After a couple of moments, the howling wind began to swirl around her and her younger siblings. Creating a barrier out of a raging tornado. Her eyes screwed shut tightly from the intense concentrating to even keep this up. Her chakra rapidly decreasing.

Raiden flew through the air and hit a tree with brutal force. Sending agonizing pain through his body as he fell to the forest floor with a muddy splash. His mouth filling with the metallic taste of his own blood. His breathing coming in painful wheezing. Knowing that some of his ribs were broken. He looked up at his attackers that were advancing on him. He desperately struggled with his body to stand up. Each movement he did, sent new shots of pain through his battered body.

Then they suddenly stopped and looked in a certain direction. He did the same and saw his sister forming the wind around her and their siblings. He forced his body into a standing position and leaned up against a tree. A feral grin spreading over his features as he glared at his enemies. "This is your end of the road." he rasped out. Hastily forming hand seals and yelling, "Katon-Gouryuuka no Jutsu!"

A dragon head made out of the element of fire formed. But instead of sending it at the enemies standing a mere couple of yards in front of him, he sent it at his sister.

Once it connected with the wind in dispersed the fire throughout the tornado. Now circling Chidori and her siblings in blazing fire. She suddenly snapped her eyes opened and yelled, "Gufuu no hi!" Making the tornado rapidly expand in width. Engulfing everything in flames until it exploded violently...

* * *

Kakashi sat in a high branch of a tree reading his ever present Icha Icha Paradise book. Or as his students like to call it, his porn book. _'They just don't have the appreciative attitude for sexual art.'_ he thought he he turned to the next page.

He glanced up to make sure that his two male students weren't trying to kill each other, _yet_. When he saw that they were still letting their female teammate train with them, he was mildly surprised. Normally Sasuke would of said something by now that irritated Naruto. Which would result in said blond to blow up and attack randomly at the youngest Uchiha.

Yes, that would be a normal day. But since it hasn't happen just yet, he figured that either they came to a truce. _'Fat chance.'_ Or Naruto was in a good mood where he wouldn't blow up as easily as he usually would. But if that's the case, it's only a matter of time before his last nerve is shot down. And by the way he's looking at the moment it's about to come any time now.

Sasuke arrogantly smirk at Naruto. Who let out inhuman growl in return. "What's wrong idiot? Can't get a hit on me?" he sneered at the blond.

Sakura backed away slowly, like she was backing away from two wild animals. Definitely not wanting to draw their attention to herself. She knew how fierce their battles get and she wanted no part in them. She would most likely get herself seriously injured or killed. Not what she had planned for today really.

Naruto rushed forward in a blur of yellow. Raising his hand to hit that smirk right off of that pale bastard's face. But it was caught by Sasuke, who used the blond's momentum to throw him across the clearing. Which Naruto landed gracefully on his feet. Taking a few shuriken out of his weapon's pouch and throwing them at the other. Sasuke dodged out of range of being struck and sped toward Naruto. Initiating a close range taijutsu fight.

After an hour they were still at it. Still throwing powerful kicks and punches to each other. Both looking like they just came out of a fierce battle. Their skin was covered with dirt and blood from open wounds and their clothes were tattered beyond repair. Within that hour their fight moved from the clearing to the surrounding forest. With only a warning from their sensei not to use life threatening jutsu's. Which meant no chidori or rasengan.

Sasuke leaped out of the way of Naruto's leg that was meant to knock him off his feet. And swung his own leg toward the blond's head. Who backed up out of range of the offending leg. He was about to throw another punch at the Uchiha when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Which resulted in getting punched hard in the jaw. Knocking his balance off and landing hard on the forest floor. The familiar taste of metallic entering his mouth.

"Tiring dobe. That punch was easy to dodge, even for you." Sasuke stated with a smirk.

Naruto glared at him and sneered, "Shut up Teme! That was a fucking cheat shot and you know it!" getting back on his feet and looking in the direction where something yellowish caught his attention.

Sasuke shrugged, "Whatever, can we get back to fighting?"

"No." he said absentmindedly as he walked toward where the yellowish thing was protruding from behind a large tree. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the blond. "You're giving up?" he asked and for some reason he felt disappointed about it.

Naruto swirled on his heels at hearing something so ridiculous. Pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke. "Hell no would I EVER give up to a bastard like _you_!"

_'Good.'_ Sasuke thought with satisfaction as once again he watched the blond turn in the opposite direction. "What the hell are you doing?" wondering why someone that didn't want to give up is walking in a different direction from said opponent.

"Seeing what _that_ is." he said while pointing his finger at the yellowish blob a little in front of himself.

Sasuke furrowed his brows at the _thing_. His mind coming up with several ideas to what it was. He began walking toward Naruto, just in case it was something dangerous. Not quite understanding why he was worried for his blond teammate. He watched as Naruto looked behind the tree and as his eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Holy shit..." he heard his teammate murmur before running in the direction of the clearing where Kakashi and Sakura were at.

Sasuke approached the tree and glanced behind it. Gasping as he saw five kids laying unconscious on the ground. All of them filthy from head to toe. The two oldest with dried blood mixing with their dirt.

He bent down to one of the little girls with raven colored hair and brought his hand to her pulse at her neck. Seeing if she was still alive. When he received a heartbeat he let out a sigh of relief. He did this to all the others, finding out that they were all still breathing. But it seemed like the two eldest were the worst for wear. _'Damn that idiot better hurry.'_

Naruto was running through the forest at high speed, reaching the clearing in record time. "Kakashi-sensei!!" he yelled at his sensei. Who didn't move a muscle from his spot in the tree. "Please say you didn't kill him. You know that would give Hokage-sama more paperwork. And I'm the one that would get yelled at for it."

"Kaka..." but before he could get anything else out Sakura began yelling, "You better not of seriously injured my Sasuke-kun, Naruto-baka!" clenching her fists together ready to strike the poor blond down. But he ignored her as best he could while she continued to yell at him. "Dammit Kakashi-sensei! We found these five kids in the forest unconscious!"

Once said, one shut up while the other immediately put his book away and jumped down to the ground. Asking simply, "Where." Naruto didn't waste anytime and ran toward where he came from with Kakashi and Sakura following right behind him.

A few seconds later, they reached where the five kids were with Sasuke standing impatiently to the side. His arms crossed in annoyance. "What the hell took you so long dobe." he asked as he glared at the blond.

Naruto growled at him sneering, "Ask your girlfriend?" inwardly grinning when he received a death glare from hell from the raven. While Sakura squalled and clutched to Sasuke arm asking hopefully, "Do you really think of me as your girlfriend?" her voice dripping with shrilly girliness.

"No." came the immediate answer. Yanking his arm out of Sakura's grasp and addressing Kakashi. "They're all still breathing but the two oldest seem to be fainter than the others."

Kakashi nodded, wondering what these five children were doing in the middle of the forest looking like they just rolled in several mud puddles. But that was impossible because it hasn't rained in over a week. "We need to take them to the hospital." stating the most obvious thing possible while bending down and grabbing the two oldest. "Each one of you grab one of the smaller ones and follow me."

All three did as told and followed their sensei toward the hospital...

**

* * *

**

Gufuu no hi**--Tornado of Fire**


	2. Truth Evades Truth

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Two

**Truth Evades Truth**

Kakashi lounged comfortably against the white wall in the critical section of the hospital while reading his precious book. The silence that filled the hall only being interrupted by the footsteps of nurses and the beeping sound of various machines in the different rooms. The different hues of colors flooding through the window down at the end of the hall, gave the lifeless white walls some warmth. Instead of the cold and emptiness that they normally gave off.

His students were no longer with him as he sent them home to rest and to look like they just didn't try to kill each other. Even though, it took more convincing or more like throwing to get rid of Naruto. So now, he was patiently waiting for Tsunade to get done with her examination on the older boy that Naruto and Sasuke found. Which seemed to be taking the longest than the other four. Who were currently resting in different hospital rooms.

When his ears picked up the metallic sound of a turning doorknob, his head lifted from his book to the now opening door. Watching as Tsunade stepped out of the room with a clipboard in her hand, looking extremely tired.

Tsunade shut the door behind her as she let out a audibly sigh. She wanted nothing more than to get something stiff to drink. After what she found out she deserved one. Actually she deserved several, and then to hopefully passing out cold on that taunting paperwork. Yes, that would be bliss. Then maybe she wouldn't have to think about how something so ludicrous could happen.

She was brought out of her inner debate, which the alcohol was winning, by Kakashi asking, "So how are they?" Putting his book back into his back pants pocket and pushing himself off the wall to be more respectful.

Another sigh escaped her mouth as she flipped a couple of papers over on her clipboard. "Well, the two youngest with black hair seem to be fine. The blond little girl has a high fever and had to be put in a cooling tent to lower her temperature. The oldest girl is suffering from chakra exhaustion and a fractured jaw."

She moved to one of the chairs that lined the wall and sat down. "The older boy is the one that suffered the most damage..." Surprising her that he was even still alive. "...His left leg is broken in two spots while his right has a fractured ankle. His left arm is fractured in two different places and was dislocated. His right is broken in three different places and a couple of his fingers were broken on that hand. He has five broken ribs and his left lung was punctured. A broken jaw and nose. A severe concussion and internal bleeding. Oh...and chakra exhaustion." she added the last as an afterthought. Almost forgetting to add it to his list of injuries.

Kakashi blinked. He was amazed that the boy wasn't lying in the morgue at the moment. He never met anyone that young to survive that much damage done to his body. "Is he going to live?" he asked, thinking the damage alone would kill him eventually.

"Yes. He's stable and already healing well." she said while nodding her head. She rose up from the chair she just sat in a minute before. "If Naruto or Sasuke hadn't found them, the boy and the blond little girl might already be dead. These brats were lucky." turning to walk down to the children's ward to check on the blond girl.

But before she managed a few steps Kakashi asked, "Do you have any ideas who there parents are?" wondering how five kids can go missing without anyone noticing.

Tsunade didn't even stop in her walking while she said over her shoulder. "I have a pretty good idea." and continued to her destination. Leaving Kakashi to ponder on his own suspicions.

_

* * *

_

Two days later...

Naruto was positioned in his daily spot at one of his most favorite places, Ichiraku. Currently digging his chopsticks in his fourth bowl of miso ramen. Some of the broth dripping down his chin in the process. His foot tapping its own melody on his stool leg.

A loud screech caught his sensitive ears attention, almost making them ache from the high intensity of it. There was only one person who could manage that. He finished slurping the noodles that were already in his mouth and turned his head to the source of the noise. And sure enough, his vision caught sight of a head of pink. And if Sakura was around, Sasuke was sure to be in her sight.

He quickly finished up his ramen and put the amount of money he owned on the counter. Then swirled around on his stool and jump off to the ground. Putting his hands in his pants pockets while walking with a bounce toward Sakura. Who was vigorously arguing with some village girl. With Sasuke standing a few feet away staring at the fight with disinterest.

"You shouldn't go around and grabbed people like there yours!!" Naruto heard Sakura scream at the now crying girl. "Hey! Sakura-chan, teme!" he cheerfully greeted with a hand wave. Effectively directing the pink haired kunoichi's attention to him.

Sasuke turned toward Naruto with a impassive expression. Inwardly relieved that Sakura had shut up but was soon diminished when she began yelling at Naruto for interrupting her rant and letting the other girl escape. He let out a sigh of annoyance, "Dobe, what did you want?" he said loud enough for the blond to hear over the loud yelling of Sakura.

Naruto snapped his head in the raven's direction. His sapphire orbs subconsciously softening when they landed on the other. "Right!" brightening up and bouncing on the ball of his heels. "I wanted to see if you two wanted to go to the hospital and see how those kids were?" he asked, his eyes hopeful and glancing back and forth between his two teammates.

"Sure!" said Sakura excitedly, turning her head to Sasuke. Naruto doing the same, his eyes silently begging him not to be cruel and leave him alone with her that long. He wasn't sure if his ears or nerves could take it.

The raven shrugged his shoulders in his way of agreeing. Taking some mercy on the poor blond he's become so fond of. He soundlessly walked passed the two and in the direction of the hospital.

Sakura bounced once in delight and caught up to Sasuke. Dramatically swinging her arms by her side. While Naruto grinned widely and followed the youngest Uchiha.

* * *

A soft groan could be heard from the raven haired girl as she turned over in her hospital bed. Putting her hand underneath her pillow so it would be more comfy. While her other hand lifted the white blanket over her head to block out the sunlight that was flooding into the room and right into her, trying to sleep, face.

But the shinobi side of her hazy mind was wondering why her house was so quiet. Her house is never quiet. Not this early in the morning anyway. She forced her eyelids to open, only for them to close again. They were currently working against her will to go back into slumber. She tried again and managed halfway. Her mind going into confused mode when her unfocused onyx eyes saw white. Now why wasn't she seeing her deep purple sheet with flowers decorating it and where's her fluffy comforter?

Chidori blinked a couple more times to focus but one sentence was prominent in her mind. _'This isn't my bed.' _And with that thought she whipped the blanket off her and bolted up into a sitting position. The memories of the attempted assassination coming back to her mind. Her head darting around and taking in her surroundings.

It was pretty easy to guess where she was. If all the white and the smell of sick people said anything. But she couldn't understand why she was here or how she got here. The last thing she remembered was doing that wind and fire technique and then passing out. Her eyes widened as realization kicked in. _'MY SIBLINGS! Where are my sisters and brothers!'_ she thought franticly, fear creeping up her spine at the thought of anything happening to them.

She quickly moved herself to the edge of the bed. Not caring where she exactly was or what _country_ she was even in. She was going to find her siblings one way or another. She lowered herself to the floor and stood on wobbling legs. Using her hands on the bed for support until her lower limbs got use to being used again.

After a couple of stumbles she got to the closed door to the room she was residing in. Tucking some of her waist length hair behind her ear as she leaned herself against the wall. She took a deep breath to calm her growing fear before closing her eyes and began to concentrate. Extending her senses in search for her sibling's chakra signatures. Her brows furrowed when she found more people in the building than she expected.

It took about two minutes but she found the three younger ones two floors below and her older brother a floor up. _'I need to get to the younger ones first.' _she thought as she pushed herself off the wall and wiped the sweat that was accumulating off her upper lip. The fear that was growing making her limbs tremble. She stood in front of the door and gripped the handle. Twisting the knob and slowly opening it. She tentatively stuck her head through the opening and checked down the hall in both directions. Finding only a few people.

She bit her lip while she slipped out of the room and soundlessly closed the door behind her. Keeping her eyes on the people occupying the hall. She walked down the hall, trying to act casual to hopefully not draw any attention to herself. Feeling slightly self-conscience when she finally realized that she was only wearing a hospital gown and white underwear. Which could easily be seen in the back along with the rest of her pale back. But that didn't stop her bare feet from continuing in taking steps. Her body language not once showing how nervous or scared she actually was.

A nurse with a clipboard in her hand turned around a corner and noticed the black haired girl walking toward her. At first the girl didn't register but when she got closer she recognized her as one of the children that were brought in. "Hey!" the nurse called out to her. "You're not suppose to be out of your room!"

Chidori looked in the direction of the nurse for a second before sprinting down the hall and around the corner to her right. "Alert security!" she heard the nurse yell at someone. Forgetting all about not drawing attention and just thinking about getting to her brother and sisters. She saw the staircase in the distance just as a shinobi appeared in front of her path. Making her slide to a stop on the tile flooring. "That's as far as you're going, little girl." said the chuunin shinobi with a smirk.

She glanced up at the guy's hitai-ate on his forehead and saw the symbol for Konohagakure. _'Konoha? Why are they stopping me?'_ But this fact happily replaced her fear with anger at there audacity at trying to stop her from seeing her family. _'Ohhh, how I'm going to tell Tou-san about this. Then you'll be sorry...'_ she thought as her eyes bled into red. Her lips upturning into a smirk when the chuunin took a frightful step back from her.

_'It's not possible! This girl shouldn't have those!'_ the chuunin thought franticly. His brows furrowing as his hand slowly lowered to his weapons pouch. His gut telling him not to underestimate this girl, even if she didn't look any older than eleven.

"Get out of my way." she sneered at the man. Giving him her one and only warning.

"Hmpf..." his pathetic smirk returning. "You're not going anywhere." Extracting a kunai from his weapons pouch and firmly gripping the metal in his hand. The artificial light glinting off the kunai in a threatening manner. "So why don't you be a good little girl and go back to your room."

A scowl set on her features, her eyes glaring deadly at him. _'I'm no match on strength. I just have to get past him.'_ And with that final thought of determination she rushed at him. Squatting down fast when he swipe at her with his kunai. Then placed her right hand on the floor to keep her balance and used her left leg to land a hard kick to the back of his leg. Sending him stumbling to the side. Giving her enough of an opening to dart to the stairs.

Which she took.

Chidori ran down the hall at full speed. The chuunin right on her heels. But an intersection was present right before the stairs and she could feel two shinobi coming down the left hall. _'Great...' _willing her legs to go faster, hopefully to pass it before the other shinobi got there. But her luck wasn't working for her today. Because one of the two shinobi coming down the hall made it at the junction a moment before she did. Concern flashed through her onyx eyes for a second until she noticed the shinobi's legs positioned wide apart. She suddenly dropped herself to the floor, using her momentum to slide right under the shinobi in her way. Then quickly pushing herself back on her feet and continuing to the stairs.

When she reached the stairs, she only ran halfway down before she gripped the railing and jumped over it to land on one of the steps below. Now wanting to waste any time on taking extra steps that didn't need to be taken. She ran down the few steps that were left and turned to go down another floor. Jumping over the railing like before but her foot landed wrong on the edge of the step. Making her fall the last few steps. Her knee hitting the tile floor painfully, causing a pain filled yelp to escape her mouth. Tears gathering at the corner of her eyes at how much it hurt. But she forced herself to get up and keep moving. She couldn't dwell on the pain, she had to get to her siblings.

* * *

"Why do you think they were even in that forest?" asked Sakura as she veered around a patient.

Team Seven was currently walking down one of the halls in the children's ward. Heading toward the playroom for the children that have been hospitalized.

Naruto shrugged, "Maybe they went camping." saying the first thing that came to mind. Even though he knew that it was very unlikely.

Sakura looked at the blond like he was stupidest person she'd ever seen. "Without any equipment or anything!" she screeched. Causing Naruto, Sasuke and some surrounding people to inwardly cringe.

"Geez, Sakura-chan! Do you have to be so loud!" said Naruto, raising his hand to his ear and sticking his picky finger in it.

"Excuse me! You're the one that's being loud Naruto-baka!" her hands clenching at her sides. Resisting the urge to hit the boy upside his head.

The youngest Uchiha sighed as he closed his eyes. Trying to calm his annoyance at there usual bickering. For some reason when he and Naruto argued it didn't bother him that much, he oddly enough enjoyed it. But when those two get started, it just grates on his last nerves. Maybe it's because Sakura's voice is so high pitched. His eyes reopened when he heard a shinobi yell from behind them. "She'll be coming this way!" He stopped in his steps and turned to the shinobi that was running by them to another shinobi in front of them. "We're ordered to stop her without seriously hurting her!"

He furrowed his brows in curiosity. "I wonder..." Finding it too much of a coincidence that five strangers were brought in and then a couple of days later someone is trying to break out. They wouldn't go through all this trouble for one of there own. It has to be one of them or they brought in a severely wounded criminal in such short notice.

Sakura paused in her arguing with her blond teammate when she noticed that her crush wasn't around. "Where's Sasuke-kun?" she asked, glancing around the hall. Spotting the Uchiha standing still a little ways behind them.

Naruto shrugged as he felt Sakura obediently go to the stoic boy. _'She would never worry about me?'_ he thought solemnly. He never liked to admit it but he was slightly jealous of Sasuke. And it wasn't because of Sakura, he got over his crush on her during the chuunin exams. It was because he tried so hard to gain the respect of the villages and it did no good. They still hated him. But with Sasuke, that respect was given so willingly and the raven still chooses to be alone. He just couldn't understand him. He swirled on his heels and began walking backwards. Curiously staring at the raven that was walking by Sakura a few feet behind.

Sasuke crossed his arms absentmindedly, tuning out the constant chatter that was coming from his right. His eyes drifted around until they settled on piercing sapphire of his teammate. He's never seen such a look adorning the blond's face. And he couldn't bring himself to look away. He was trapped. Trapped in the endless depths of those sapphire eyes. His heartbeat sped up, his breath quickening. _'Why is he staring at me?'_ but the thought alone made him excited.

Naruto walked backwards into the intersection when a raven haired girl brutally collided with him. Knocking the wind right out of him and sending them both landing on the floor, _hard_. Her momentum making them skid across the slick surface a few feet.

He groaned loudly at the pain throbbing in his head and up his back. He opened his eyes for a second. His vision blurry and the world around was spinning. So he opted out to just shut them again until his head ceased some on the throbbing.

Chidori pushed herself up with her arms and was prepared to only take a brief glance at whoever she landed on and continue on. But her whole body froze when she took in the person's features underneath her.

Anger sparked within the youngest Uchiha when the girl knock into Naruto, then a pang of jealousy coursed through him at the suggestive position they were in. With a low growl he stalked up to the two and bent down. He put his hand on the shocked girl's shoulder and shoved her back off of the blond. "You need to watch where the hell you're going!" he sneered at her without looking. His full attention was on Naruto. _'Why isn't he moving?'_

"Oi dobe, get up." he ordered without showing the concern he was feeling.

Sakura knelt down on the other side of the blond. Concern showing in her voice as she asked softly, "Naruto, are you alright?"

Another groan escaped from Naruto's lips. His eyes fluttering open partly and stared at Sasuke with unfocused eyes, "Sasu...ke...why are th...ere...two of you...?" he muttered almost incoherently. Sticking up three shaky fingers to show him how many there were of him.

"I think he hit his head pretty hard." muttered Sakura, her eyebrow raised questioningly at her teammate's confusion.

Sasuke ignored her as he gripped the blond's arm and began lifting him into a sitting position. "Woah woah woah..." began Naruto while placing his hand on Sasuke's arm that was moving him. "Not so fast..."

Chidori stared at the three in front of her with uncontrolled shock. Slowly crawling herself backward from them. _'It can't be...This just can't be real...Genjutsu, it has to be a genjutsu...'_ she thought desperately. Hoping to find a reason for who she was seeing in front of her. It just wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible.

Her arm was suddenly grabbed in a vice grip from behind. Wrenching her off the ground and to her feet. "Caught you!" She let a pain filled gasp slip from her lips as she struggled against her captor.

Sasuke got Naruto sitting upright when they heard the beginning of the struggle in front of them. They looked up and saw the girl that collided with Naruto struggling against two shinobi. She moved her head sharply, her hair moving out of the way to reveal her features.

"Hey! Let her go!" yelled Naruto when he realized that she was one of the kids that they found in the forest.

The shinobi glared at the blond with contempt. "You!" he sneered. "Mind your own business!"

Chidori used the shinobi's minor distraction to wrench her arm from his hold. Then using the same arm she twisted her body and hit the other shinobi holding her other arm in the face. Which probably didn't hurt much but it sure did surprise him. His hold loosened just enough for her to wrench her arm out of his grip. Using her opportunity, she dived over a slightly stunned Sakura. Rolling forward on the floor and back on her feet. She made it two feet before another shinobi appeared in front of her, making her slip on the tile floor and fall on her butt from the sudden stop she made.

She turned on her belly and pushed herself back onto her feet, ignoring the pain that was going through her body from all the falls she's been taking and headed in the opposite direction. Only to be blocked again. The anger she was feeling before being quickly replaced with the fear that's been lying underneath the surface. Tears gathering at the corner of her eyes while she backed herself against a wall. Her arms pressed against her chest as some form of protection.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled brokenly as the other shinobi advanced on her.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were standing to the side, watching the scene take place. Sakura fidgeting, her hand absentmindedly playing with the hem of her dress. Wondering why so many shinobi were needed. She doubted that the girl and those other kids were sent here to assassinate the Hokage. Just look at her, she doesn't look powerful at all. They were only accomplishing in making her more frighten.

Naruto worriedly staring, knowing that the shinobi around here can get out of control when they think of you as a enemy. He had personal experience in that area. So it resulted in his whole body being tense and completely ready to throw himself in the fray if need be.

Sasuke stood rigid, his body twitching once and a while in instinct to, for some very strange reason, protect her. But when he took a closer look at her eyes, his own narrowed almost to slits. _'How the hell...'_ he thought with utter disbelief.

Because the girl cowering against the wall adorned the _sharingan_ in her eyes...


	3. Unspoken Mysteries

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Three

**Unspoken Mysteries**

Tsunade let out a frustrated sigh as she glared at the young girl sitting in front of her. Who in return glared back with as much intensity. Shifting her eyes among the people positioned throughout the room. People that couldn't possibly be here or look like they were now.

It wasn't possible.

Though it wasn't a genjutsu either. She knew this because she tried dispelling it but it did nothing. But _this_ couldn't be real...could it?

Tsunade was almost at the end of her rope. Hell, she had to extend her rope to stay reasonably calm so she wouldn't snap and punch the younger girl. Every since they brought her back to her hospital room, she hadn't said a single word. Nothing. No matter what question she asked, the girl never answered. And it was pushing every button she had in her.

"Let's try this again, what's your name?" she asked through a forced calm. But when the girl didn't answer after a full long couple of moments, the last of her rope finally ended. She stood up abruptly and towered over the girl. "What the hell is your name!" she almost screamed, while slamming her hand into the bed post, snapping it off with her strength and landing on the floor with a loud metallic sound.

Naruto was sitting on the windowsill with his arms behind his head and his mouth hanging slightly open. He was almost asleep from this extremely _boring_ interrogation when he was jostled out of it with a loud bang. His eyes snapped open and his vision caught sight of Tsunade on the verge of hitting the girl.

He jumped off the windowsill and approached Tsunade, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Baa-chan, calm down. You're only scaring her more." seeing the fear that was prominent in her eyes.

She snapped her head in his direction, glaring at him fiercely for interfering. But then a thought stuck her, "You think you can do better, gaki? Go right ahead." backing away while crossing her arms with a smirk on her features. If her theory was right, '_if_ ' being the key word, the girl would listen to him and answer. But of course her theory could be off her rocker.

Naruto huffed and pouted, his hands pulling on the hem of his jacket nervously. He hopped on the mattress across from Chidori, who was staring at him intently. Taking in every detail and looking for unique traits that belonged to only him.

"Yo!" sticking out his hand toward Chidori. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto!" But she just stared at the hand for a moment then looked back up at Naruto. He retracted his hand with a little disappointment.

Sasuke grinded his teeth together, his patience running extremely thin. _'This is taking too long.'_ he thought with annoyance. All he wanted to know was how she could possibly have the sharingan and who the hell her parents were. Was that too much to ask? But no, he gets snapped at for being a _little_ to forceful with his questioning. But can you blame him! 'Cause the last time he checked, he and his psychotic brother were the last of the Uchiha's. And the Uchiha's are the only clan with the sharingan.

"You know..." began Naruto, cutting the youngest Uchiha out of his thoughts. "...I believe in this thing." he took a short pause, trying to think of the best way to convince her. Then his eyes seemed to sparkle like a light bulb going off in his head. He turned his head in the direction of Sasuke. "See that guy leaning on the wall over there. One the that looks like he was a stick of his ass..." which received a glare from said 'stick up his ass' boy.

Chidori took a quick glance at Sasuke before returning her stare to Naruto. "Well, I've been trying to teach him that when someone gives you there name you're suppose to give them yours. But since he's such a stuck up bastard..." resulting in an eye twitch from the raven. "...it doesn't seem to sink in. The point is, since I gave you my name it's only polite that you give me your's." finishing up with a radiating smile.

Her lip began to quiver by the end of what he said. Her eyes brimming with tears, distorting her vision. _'It's too real...it's all too real...'_ a single tear ran down her cheek as everything was becoming too much.

Naruto's smile falter and turned into a frown when he saw that the girl in front of him was on the verge of tears. When a tear ran down her cheek, he immediately jumped to his feet, putting his hands up in front of him while saying, "Hey! I didn't mean you had to tell me your name!" Then she burst into tears and sobs, lowering her head into her hands close to her lap. Naruto panicked at this, "Don't cry! I didn't mean it!"

"That's great Naruto-baka!" screamed Sakura, "You made her cry!"

Naruto turned his head desperately toward Tsunade. "Baa-chan...what did I..." but was cut short when Chidori lunged forward and clutched to his waist, causing Sasuke to glare death on the girl for touching the blond so familiarly. She cried brokenly on his chest, wetting his orange jacket. While he awkwardly patted her on her back, thinking that that might calm her down but he's never been in this kind of situation where he had to calm anyone down. So, he really didn't know what to do. But he's seen other people do this with upset people, so he figured it might work.

After a few minutes her sobs subsided and she pulled herself from Naruto with a slight blush dusting her cheeks. She wiped her red-rimmed eyes and face with the back of her hands, drying her tear stained face as she murmured a, "I'm sorry..."

Naruto placed his hand behind his head sheepishly, "Don't worry 'bout it! Are you alright now?" he asked worriedly.

Chidori thought she was going to cry again at seeing the familiar gesture. But held back her rising emotions and sniffled as she nodded her head vigorously. Naruto lowered his hand back to his side, brightening up immediately, "Well, that's good! Would you like something?! I can probably get you something!" he looked back over at Tsunade, seeing if his words had any holding. She nodded silently with a strange look on her features. Which kind of crept Naruto out just a little bit.

He turned his attention back to the girl, "Well?" he pressed. Chidori fidgeted in her spot, wondering if she should even bother asking. "M-My...s-s-siblings..." she stuttered out nervously.

"Siblings?" repeated Naruto with confusion. "Do you mean those other kids that were with you?" When she nodded he asked with astonishment in his voice. "They're your family!" which issued yet another nod. "Ohhhh! No wonder you were running like a bat out of hell in the children's ward. You weren't trying to escape were you?"

She shook her head repeatedly. "No! I found my three younger siblings chakra signatures there. I just wanted to see if they were alright." she said. _'And then escape with them.'_ she finished silently but she thought they didn't need to know that part. "I just want to see them." she pleaded with Naruto before she turned her head to Tsunade. "Can I please see them?" her voice begging for the permission.

"Hey!" yelled Naruto, successfully bringing her attention back to him before Tsunade could answer. "Why don't we make a deal?" he bargained, "I will somehow get Baa-chan to let you see your siblings if you tell us your name."

At first she thought this was it, that the scheme would show that this wasn't real and everything was some kind of elaborate illusion. But when he only asked for her name to see them, she now knew that this wasn't a scheme of any kind but...reality. "Ch-Chidori." she stuttered, looking between all of them for there reactions.

"Chidori!" he said brightly before his eyebrows knitted together. "Chidori? That's the name of Sasuke's jutsu." he stated in a matter-of-fact way. But didn't think it was anything suspicious, not like Sasuke. Who was glaring at Chidori with obvious suspicion written in his eyes.

Tsunade chuckled softly, causing four heads to turn to her curiously. Sakura was the one to speak up, "Tsunade-sama, what's so funny?"

She waved her hand back and forth, trying to catch her breath at the same time. "Nothing, nothing. Why don't we go visit your siblings." She turned toward the closed door, still snickering.

Chidori excitedly jump off the bed and stood next to a now standing Naruto while Tsunade opened the door and stood aside to let the younger ones to exit first. A smirk on her face in a way that made it look like she knew something the others didn't. Which she was almost positive she did.

Sakura was the first to walk out of the room and into the hall that just forty-five minutes earier, Chidori tried to escape. She passed the two guards that were positioned at both sides of the door frame and saw two others positioned at the other side of the hall.

Naruto and Chidori exited next with Sasuke behind the two. The latter wanted to keep a close eye on the girl because he knew she was hiding something. Something huge. And if the sharingan in her eyes wasn't a major faction in his paranoia, he would instead be suspicious with the way she looked at all of them. Like she knew them but...didn't. And the way she looked at Naruto was just disturbing.

He crossed his arms over his chest while he glared into her back, one question prominent in his mind. _'Who are you?' _

Tsunade dismissed the guards that were preparing to follow them, with a wave of her hand. She remained in the rear of the little group, watching how Chidori interacted with each of them.

"So, how old are you?" asked Naruto innocently, secretly trying to get more information about her.

Chidori bit her bottom lip a moment before answering a little reluctantly, "Ten" Her soft whisper not reaching the ears of the others, unlike Naruto, who was able to hear because of his sensitive ears. "Cool! Only ten and already able to evade chuunin shinobi! You must be good, what rank are you?"

A slight blush dusted her cheeks at the compliment. "Genin" she said without any hesitation. Proving that she was loosening up and becoming more comfortable of their presence. They reached the staircase and began to descend two floors to the children's ward.

Naruto nodded his head approvingly, "We're chunnins." using his finger to point to Sasuke, Sakura and himself. "And on the same team."

"H-How old are y-you?" she stammered, becoming nervous at asking a question.

"Thirteen!" he answered without a problem. "We all are!" Making sure he indicated the others ages too. "Well, except for Baa-chan...she's oooold." Emphasizing the word 'old' and making a funny face in the process. Which made Chidori giggle softly and Tsunade yell, "You better watch it brat!" but kept it at that. She wanted the girl to keep talking and she didn't want herself to scare her with her violent temper.

_**'Kit...there's something strange about her...' **_Kyuubi mentally told Naruto.

_'I know, I'm not trusting her or anything.'_

_**'No Kit, I mean that there's something similar about her...scent.'**_

_'And what's that?'_

_**'Ummmm...nothing...' **_Kyuubi couldn't really tell his hoist about what he thought or what his sense of smell told him about the girl. He wanted to make sure he was right before he freaked Naruto out.

They arrived at the floor they wanted and walked down the hallway. Crossing the junction that Chidori collided with Naruto in awkward silence, until Sakura couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore. "Chidori-san..." she said, catching the attention of the raven haired girl. "Why were you in the woods and where were your parents?"

Naruto closed his eyes, _'Leave it to Sakura-chan to ask the two questions that she'll probably won't answer and make her stop talking.' _

And just as Naruto expected, Chidori clammed up. Keeping her eyes forward and mouth shut. Her whole body shifting and fidgeting nervously as she continued to walk by the blond. Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder, which resulted in a flinch from the contact. "Don't worry Chidori-chan! You don't have to answer if you don't want to!" he said, hoping to cheer the girl up. Then sent a half attempted glare at Sakura for being stupid enough to ask.

Sakura glared back with almost visible fire in her eyes at his audacity. Like she couldn't ask questions like he is. But she had to admit, he had a way with people to get them to feel more comfortable. A kind of tact which she knew she didn't process right now.

They turned around another corner and stopped in front of a pair of double doors. Tsunade came up behind them and gripped the handle to the right swinging door. She pulled it open to let the younger ones enter first. When they entered they saw various toys sprawled around the room and children playing all around. Two nurses were sitting at a desk by the far wall, keeping an watchful eye on the playing children.

Chidori anxiously moved her eyes over the heads of the children, trying to locate her brother and sister that she knew were in here. Her eyes then landed on a boy and a girl with raven colored hair and her heart skipped a beat. Relief flooding through her that they were alright as tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. There backs were turned toward her while they quietly played with blocks together, silently ignoring the other children around them.

The boy's hair was cut short and spiked naturally in the back while the girl's hair fell to the middle of her back. Both of them wore hospital gowns, revealing that their complexions were as pale as their older sister's.

"Sora! Kaze!" Chidori yelled across the room to the two. Who, upon hearing there nicknames being called, immediately snapped there heads in the direction of their older sister. Their startling sapphire eyes brimming with unshed tears once they landed on her. Then they jumped to their feet and ran to Chidori, yelling "Nee-chan!" Who bent down on her knees and caught the two in a hug, almost knocking her off her balance.

The two hugged their sister like she was going to disappear any moment. The tears that brimmed their eyes leaking out and falling down their pale cheeks. There embrace lasted for several minutes until Chidori pushed them away gently.

Using her hands, she ran the two limbs through both of the younger one's hair. "Are you both alright? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

"They're fine." Tsunade reassured her before the other two could say anything. "These two are the only ones that were perfectly fine when they came in. Well, except for being a little tired but other than that, there's nothing wrong with them."

Once Sora and Kaze heard the extra voice, they began to look at the other people that accompanied their sister. Kaze cocked his head sideways, taking in the faces that were in front of him. He blinked a couple of times out of confusion before turning his head to his twin sister. Who looked frightened at their presence.

Naruto bent down to their eye level and held out his hand in greetings. "Hi! My name's Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?" he asked cheerfully, trying to be friendly. But his expression falter when he caught sight of the younger ones features. _'I think I'm scaring them...' _

Kaze was standing there like a deer caught in headlights with his mouth hanging open. While Sora was petrified, slowing inching away from the blond and toward her older sister. Her teeth biting her lower lip as her lip quivered uncontrollably.

Sasuke stood close to the double doors with his hands deep in his pockets, staring intently at the sapphire eyes of the two younger ones. _'Those are dobe's eyes.' _he stated to himself. But how could that be? He's never seen anyone but Naruto with such breathtaking blue eyes.

Sora looked at Naruto with fright for another second before bolting behind her sister. Crying into her pale back while sobbing out, "Where's daddy?! I want daddy!" her hands clutching Chidori's hospital gown.

"You're just making them all cry dobe." said Sasuke smugly, while the corner of his mouth upturned into a smirk. Naruto ignored the raven's comment, his hand automatically moving to the back of his head and rubbing sheepishly. "Sorry..." he apologized to Chidori.

The latter gave the blond an apologetic smile. "Don't worry 'bout it. They're kind of shy." she said before turning her head in a awkward angle, trying to look at her younger sister behind her. "Sora...Tou-san isn't here. So come on..." reaching her hand behind her and grabbing Sora's wrist. Who began to struggle against the hold, yelling, "No! That's not mommy! He's not mommy!"

Chidori visible tensed at those words. While the others, except Kaze, looked at her curiously. Wondering why the younger girl thought Naruto looked like her mother. For one he was a guy and he hardly looked like any woman. And everyone was willing to bet their lives that he had the tools to prove it too.

"Sora!" Chidori yelled at the still struggling child. Hoping to calm her down quickly before she said anything else. Kaze snapped out of his stupor when the cries of his twin sister finally registered in his mind. He glanced over to see that his twin was having a anxiety attack and then walked forward, grabbing the wrist that was in his older sister's hold and bringing his twin into a hug. Whispering close to her ear, "Calm down, Sora. Everything is going to be fine."

Chidori breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Sora was calming down thanks to Kaze. Ever since _that_ time, Sora began to have anxiety attacks. And the only people who could ever calm her down were Tou-san and Kaze. She was just thankful that at least one was here before Sora really got out of control.

She shifted her gaze to the others that were looking at them with a mixture of worry and curiosity. She fidgeted on her knees for a moment before standing up on her feet and looking dead on into Tsunade's eyes. "Where's my other sister?" she asked firmly but softly with her shoulders squared and her hands balled into fists.

Tsunade lifted an eyebrow at the girl's charade of courage and confidence. _'Definitely got that from her 'mother' .'_ she thought with amusement twinkling in her chocolate brown eyes. "She was moved to a regular room yesterday to recover the rest of the way from a cold she had when she was found."

"Is she going to be alright?" Chidori asked with worry filling her voice.

"She's going to be fine." she reassured the young raven. "Do you want to go see her?" Chidori nodded vigorously, wanting to see with her own eyes that her youngest sister was alright.

Tsunade turned around and said over her shoulder, "Follow me." Her hand pushing open the one of the double doors. Which caught the attention of Kaze, who was still holding his twin sister. He saw that his older sister was about to leave and panic began to fill his sapphire eyes. "Nee-chan! Can we come with you?" he whined desperately, not wanting for him and his sister to be left here alone.

Chidori turned her head back to the twins then to Tsunade to see if they could. The older woman nodded her head in acceptance before exiting the room with Team Seven right behind her. Chidori held her hand out for the two and they hurried forward, Sora grabbing her left hand while Kaze grabbed her right. Then all three walked side by side out of the room and into the hall, where the others were waiting for them.

Sora pushed herself close to Chidori's leg, her hand gripping her sister's tightly when they came close to the others. She almost hid herself completely behind her sister to hide from there eyesight.

Kaze silently shifted his eyes between each one of them, eying their movements closely. His body flinching every so slightly when one made a sudden and unexpected movement. He inched closer to his older sister when the blond began walking by his right side. His heartbeat speeding up and his breaths coming out ragged. He chanced an glance up at the blond but quickly turned his vision back to the floor when he found him staring at him.

"So how old are they?" Sakura asked, as she too was staring at Kaze. "He kinda looks like a mini version of Sasuke-kun, except with blue eyes." she stated bluntly. Causing Sasuke to take another quick glance at the two suspiciously.

She hesitated a moment before answering the kunoichi's question. "They're both six." Then added, "They're twins." when she saw the looks they were giving her. "Sorano and Kazeno, we call them Sora and Kaze for short."

Naruto murmured lowly, "Of the sky and of the wind..." Mostly saying to himself what the twin's names mean. Then brought his mind out of the daze it managed to slip into and asked, "What about your other sister? The one were about to see, what's her name?"

"Umi, she's five." said Chidori as they stopped in front of a door. Tsunade opened the door and stepped in first while the others followed behind. She walked over to the bed with the safety rails up, a small girl laid curled up into a fetal position in the middle of the mattress. Her blond hair that fell to the top of her shoulders sprawled over the pillow that her head laid upon.

Upon seeing their younger sister the twins ran to the opposite side of the bed that didn't occupy Tsunade. Who was checking the sleeping girl's vitals to make sure her fever didn't come back. Chidori stood on the side that the twins were located, Sora unsuccessfully trying to climb on the bed to lay next to Umi. The other three of Team Seven stood at the end of the bed, watching.

Tsunade finished checking Umi and took a couple of steps away from the bed, giving the siblings some room.

Chidori lifted her hand to Umi's forehead and brushed some stray blond hair away affectionately. Causing her eyes to flutter open halfway, revealing deep sapphire orbs. "Onee-chan..." she said in a raspy voice.

"Did I wake you?" Chidori asked softly.

She shook her head slightly, "Can't sleep without Popochi..." Then she looked around the room sluggishly before turning her attention back on her sister. "Where's daddy?"

Chidori's eyes filled with sadness. "Tou-san isn't here right now...are you feeling alright?"

"But I want daddy..." her voice whining desperately, hoping that maybe he would magically appear like he's done before. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she curled her legs closer to her body.

Before Chidori had the chance to comfort Umi, Kaze reached his hand through the safety railing and toward Umi's, clutching hold of her hand while he said quietly, " It's alright Umi. I'm sure daddy's coming." He thought a moment before reluctantly admitting, "And I don't know where Popochi is..."

"I can sleep with her!" exclaimed Sora, who stopped her attempt on getting on the bed a few moments before. Looking up at her older sister and then at Umi, "Since Popochi is...a little...missing..." whispering the last part so basically no one heard it but herself. Because she knew how Umi would react if she never saw the stuff animal again. "So! I can sleep by her so she won't be alone!" Her own eyes looking hopeful because truth be told, she didn't want to sleep by herself either.

Umi nodded her head, which upon seeing, Sora began her attempt at bed climbing again but stopped when Tsunade spoke up. "I don't think that's a good idea. The cold that Umi had could still be spread to them." indicating the twins.

Chidori placed her hands under Sora's armpits and hoisted her up. She swung her legs over the safety rails and when she was seated safely at the end of the bed, Chidori let her go. "Don't worry, the twins never get sick." she said while Sora crawled from the end of the bed to the left side of Umi. She lifted the blankets and slid herself underneath as Umi scooted over to accommodate the other body. Then they both got comfortable, Umi's eyes immediately closing when her body relaxed near her sister's.

Chidori watched her sisters for a minute before turning her attention to Tsunade, "Nii-san...Is he alright?"

She nodded her head, "He's stable but he suffered from a nice list of injuries." She crossed her arms before asking, "Now can you tell me why he got hurt so badly?"

Her eyes went unfocused as memories of the attempted assassination passed in her mind's eye. "Can I see him?" she asked softly, completely ignoring the other's question.

Tsunade let out an exaggerated sigh, "Yeah, yeah..." Her hand rubbing her eyes as she began to walk to the door. "Come on."

Kaze quickly grabbed on Chidori's hospital gown before her body could even respond. "Nee-chan..." Fright filling his sapphire eyes as he stared up at his sister. Part of him wanted to go with her but the other part didn't want to leave his other sisters alone in here.

Chidori looked down at her brother with sympathetic eyes while her hand ruffled his raven hair. Then she placed her hands under his armpits and hoisted him up. He swung his legs over the safety railing and crossed them in mid-air, so he landed on the bed in an indian style sitting position. She let go of him and used her hands to frame his face while she said gently, "Why don't you watch over them while I'm gone, okay."

He fidgeted a moment before nodding his head a little reluctantly. "Hai..." he murmured lowly. She smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. Then turned to the others, "Alright let's go." she said as the others began walking out into the hall with her following them.

They walked down halls and up four floors to the critical section in complete silence. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Tsunade in their own thoughts about what was going on and who these children were? Tsunade's theories were almost right on target while the two males were a little in left field and Sakura was completely located in the far corner of that left field.

They stopped at the seventh door on the right of the long hall. The door itself was slightly gaped opened, letting out the light that must have been coming from a window within the room. Tsunade pushed the door, the force of the push making it swing back fully on its hinges. And her heart almost stopped from shock.

Because the bed in the middle of the room was empty. The boy was gone...


	4. Pulsing Embers

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Four

**Pulsing Embers**

Tsunade stared at the hospital bed in the middle of the room and she couldn't believe what she _wasn't_ seeing. She was suppose to be seeing an unconscious blond boy laying on top of the white sheets with wires connecting him to various machines. _But no._ Either her eyes were deceiving her or she was _really_ seeing an empty bed with wires laying or hanging haphazardly off the bed.

_'Where the hell did that brat go?' _she asked herself in her mind with disbelief. Because she couldn't believe that the kid could _actually_ move, let alone walked. He had too many injuries to even think about doing that...

"Where's Nii-san?" inquired Chidori worriedly when she entered the room and spotted the empty bed. She whipped herself around to face Tsunade with tears brimming her eyes. "Where's my Nii-san?!" her voice turning frantic.

The older woman brought a hand to her mouth as she continued to stare at the empty bed. _'That is a very good question. Wish I knew the answer...'_ She thought as she walked over to the bed and checked on the other side to make sure he didn't fall off and was laying there on the floor. She even went to see if the window was tampered with but it wasn't. _'He must of really walked out...then he wouldn't of gotten far...'_

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke stood on either side of the doorway with Sakura standing slightly in the hall in between of the two males. "This is the critical section, you don't think this boy actually walked out, do you?" she asked in a whisper to her two teammates so the sister couldn't hear her.

Sasuke remained silent while Naruto shrugged his shoulders with a look of contemplation on his face. Sakura sighed heavily as her head drooped from there limited responses. A clanking noise from her left caught her attention as she brought her head back up. She glanced down the hall and gasped when she saw a young blond boy with sharingan eyes glaring at her, with one of his hands gripping a nurse's neck and using the other to hold a syringe filled with an unknown substance to her neck.

Her two teammates heard her gasp and they too turned themselves to look down the same hallway to see the same thing. Sasuke cautiously walked to the other side of the hall and crossed his arms. While his eyes narrowed on the fully developed sharingan in the other's eyes, activating his own to glare right back at the boy. Naruto blinked a couple of times out of shock before lifting his left arm behind him and into the hospital room, waving it limply to get the two females attention, "Baa-chan, I think we found him..."

Chidori was the first out of the door and smothered a gasp that tried to escape her mouth with her hands. "Nii-san!" she whimpered through her hands. Tsunade stood next to Chidori with her mouth hanging open shamelessly. One thought prominent in her mind. _'Damn, look at that...Not only did he walk in his condition but he also managed to obtain a hostage too!'_ Oh yeah, she already liked this kid.

"Chi!" Raiden yelled down the hall with relief when he saw his sister alright. Then his eyes drifted over to Naruto and Sasuke, glancing wildly back and forth between the two. _'That ain't right...'_ his mind kept repeating over and over like a mantra, while at the same time his hand that was holding the syringe was shaking violently from the effort to keep himself standing. The nurse within his grasp had her hands clutched onto the arm that was holding her neck. Gasping out, "Hokage-sama!" through the tight grip he had.

Chidori lowered her hands to her chest and squeezed them together tightly as she took a couple of steps toward her older brother. "Nii-san! What are you doing?!"

_'What the hell does it look like I'm doing.'_ he thought sarcastically, his eyebrow raising at her like she was stupid. And she noticed this, resulting in her worry for him being instantly vanished and replaced with annoyance. Her hands immediately fell to her sides and clenched them into tight fists. "Raiden!" making the other wince slightly, because she never called him by his name unless she meant business. "If you do not let that lady go, I'm gonna tell Tou-san!" she threatened, then finished silently, _'If the real him was actually here.' _

Raiden gave her an _are you kidding me_ look. "Chi...if your going to threaten me with the prospect of getting in trouble by Tou-san, make sure he's..." giving a quick glance at Sasuke before continuing. "..._really_ here to do so." because he already knew that this wasn't an genjutsu. Besides performing 'kai' to dispelled a genjutsu, which did nothing, he also knew that if anyone did perform an genjutsu they would try to make it as believable as possible. And this was _far_ from believable...

She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine! Then let the lady go."

"No." he deadpanned, pressing the syringe closer to the nurse's neck. Causing a small whimper to escape her mouth. "Where're the younger three?" his eyes back to glaring at the other people within the hall.

"They're down in the children's ward and they're _fine_." emphasizing the word 'fine', hoping that this would suffice her brother and make him stop being so hostile. But her brother has always been stubborn and since the _incident_, overly protective of her and they're siblings. "I want to see them." his tone making it obvious that this was demand and not a request.

"Now hold on!" said Tsunade sternly, folding her arms underneath her large breasts. "What makes you think that I would let you do whatever you wanted?"

Raiden let out a tired sigh and let his eyes close for half a second. All of his strength was going into holding the struggling nurse, who he wished would stop squirming and be still, dammit! He didn't know how much longer he could remain standing and he wanted to see for himself that his younger siblings were all fine before he collapsed. "Do you not see that I could kill your pretty little nurse at any second."

A confident smile formed on the older woman's features. "I don't think you would actually kill her."

The corner of his lip up-turned into a twisted smirk. "Is that so Tsunade-sama?" he said, as Chidori lowered her head nervously, knowing exactly what he was capable of. "I'm gonna presume that you were the one that healed me and my siblings." and when he received a curt nod he continued, "Then you probably know who our parents are." He received yet another curt nod and, "I have an idea." before be continued once again, "Well, my parents taught me everything I know..."

His smirk disappeared and his features turned blank while his eyes narrowed dangerously. "So don't underestimate what I won't do for my family." he sneered with a tone of iciness that sent chills down several spines.

Tsunade's smile dropped into a frown, losing all the cockiness she felt a moment before. Chidori turned to her with pleading onyx, "He will do it...He will kill for us..." confirming that he would go through with his threat. The older woman clenched her hands together to try and control her bubbling anger. _'Maybe I don't like this brat that much after all...' _she growled within her mind.

The two glared at each other for a few long moments, making the surrounding air tense, before Tsunade reluctantly folded. She drew in a deep breath, then hissed at the boy, "Fine, but once you see them you will let her go." He gave her a curt nod of agreement.

"Chidori, go get your siblings." she ordered the younger girl, who nodded obediently and headed down the hall. "Sakura go with her." and the pink haired kunoichi did so, quickly catching up to the female raven. Leaving the others there standing in complete silence.

After about a minute, Naruto began to restlessly fidget then he let out an exaggerated sigh that seemed to echo throughout the whole hall. Three gazes focused on him, making him blush lightly on his cheeks. "What!" he exclaimed to the other three. "I'm bored!" Shifting his weight on his other leg.

"No...what you need is a larger attention span, usuratonkachi." Sasuke deadpanned to the blond on the other side of Tsunade. Who was rubbing her temples,trying to prevent an oncoming headache. _'I need some sake...' _

Naruto growled lowly at the smirking raven. Grinding his teeth together as he growled out, "Fuck you bastard! Not everyone can be such an up-tight ass like you!"

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, making sure Naruto could see the movement just to piss the blond off more. And it always works like a charm because now Naruto looks like he was about to blow a gasket. If this was a cartoon, then stream would be emitting from his ears. An odd sort of snort rose up in Sasuke's throat at the mental picture.

Raiden gazed at the two who were bantering with an solemn expression. His blood red eyes filled with a profound sadness that seemed to cut deeply within himself. He was just about to snap and tell them to shut up when a puff of smoke startled him. Causing him to press the syringe closer to the nurse's neck, breaking the skin. The nurse yelped at the pressure and the feeling of blood running down her neck.

Once the smoke cleared, Kakashi stood with his attention glued in the Icha Icha Paradise book that was in his hand. "Yo! Sorry I'm late but I stepped in dog shit and had to go home to get a clear pair of shoes and then..." but before he could finish Naruto interrupted with a loud, "LIAR!" with his finger blatantly pointing at the jounin.

Said jounin shrugged it off before quickly glancing up to see why everyone was standing in the middle of the hall. Then went back to his book without a second thought until he actually thought about what he saw and looked back up. _'I obviously missed something...'_ he thought to himself as he stared at the boy holding the nurse hostage. Wondering how that boy could even be standing. It's only been two days since he was emitted in the hospital, should he even _be able_ to stand?

He caught sight of the sharingan in the boy's eyes and he had to blink a couple of times to make sure he saw right. "Anyone care to tell me what happened." he said a little stunned.

"Just some kid hiding behind a hostage like a weakling." stated Sasuke with a smirk. Thinking that if he provoked him, he might just let the nurse go.

Raiden's left eye twitched at that comment. His pride taking a severe blow as he let a low growl emit from his throat. But he wouldn't take the bait that Sasuke threw in his direction. He knew that his hostage was the only thing keeping the others back and he wouldn't let that go, not until he saw his siblings. He was in no condition to fight them, so if this appeared to be weak...oh well, screw them...

Though that wasn't the only problem, standing was proving to be more difficult as time ticked by. If his sister didn't get back here soon, he was gonna collapse and he had a feeling that if he did so, he would have no chance in seeing his siblings at all. So he gritted his teeth together and pulled up all his families pride--which was a hell of a lot--to keep his body steady.

"And the sharingan?" asked Kakashi, then said lowly "He doesn't exactly look like an Uchiha." Normally Uchiha's have black hair not...blond. _'Although it does remind of Naruto's...'_

"Don't know." said Sasuke irritably, still ticked that he didn't get that particular information sorted out.

Kakashi put his attention back into his book, silently indicating that he wasn't going to ask anymore questions. And they all fell back into silence, which caused Naruto to begin to fidget again. _'How annoying, why can't people talk! Right Kyuu...Kyuu...? KYUU!' _

_**'Dammit brat! Will you SHUT UP!! I'm trying to think!' **_

_' 'Bout what?'_ he asked curiously to his demon like father figure, ignoring the angry tone that was present in his voice.

Kyuubi took a deep breath before he would snapped his Kit's head off. _**'I will tell you once I figure it out.'**_ he said in a false calm.

_'Fine.' _Naruto said shortly, sulking on the outside with a cute pout on his face. He shifted his weight on his other leg just before he heard the sound of hurried footsteps in the distance. And how soft they sounded against the tile floor, he knew they were the ones they were _silently_ waiting for. He turned his head down the hall where they would appear.

The movement caught Sasuke's attention and he too looked down the hall, wondering what the dobe was looking at. He quark an eyebrow at the blond when he saw nothing. But when Sakura and Chidori with Sora and Kaze extremely close to her legs and Umi in Chidori's arms came around the corner, he looked back at Naruto. His brows furrowed in contemplation at to how he would know that they were coming.

Relief flooded through Raiden when his eyes landed on his younger siblings. His sharingan fading away back into his original onyx when he let the syringe in his hand fall to the floor and removed his hand from the nurse's neck. Who, upon release, scurried away from him and toward the others.

His body lost its strength and collapsed to the floor on his butt roughly without any grace at all. _'Pride be damned...' _He just used it all up just to remain standing...so screw it!

Chidori gasped out when she saw her older brother fall while the twins ran forward, Sora yelling "Nii-chan!"

Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose when he saw sapphire eyes that he's only seen from Naruto, from the twins. '_Interesting...'_ he thought with a smirk forming.

Sora and Kaze dropped to their knees and hugged Raiden tightly. "OW! Ow ow ow...not so tight..." complained Raiden while his face contorted in pain.

"Sorry, Nii-chan..." apologized Kaze in a small voice. Sora nodding her head vigorously with what her twin brother said.

Raiden gave the two a weak smile, his eyes soften than what they were a few minutes ago. "Don't worry 'bout it." he reassured them and would of ruffled their hair if his arms weren't throbbing painfully. _'Damn struggling nurse, couldn't of just gone limp or something. Would of may it a lot easier.' _he complained mentally as Chidori came near his feet and bent down with Umi.

The little blond lifted her head and looked at her oldest brother with groggy sapphires. "Onii-chan..." she said with a small smile gracing her innocent features.

"Hey..." he greeted gently, "...are you feeling alright?"

She nodded her head dejectedly, "Fine...but can't find Popochi...Do you have Popochi, Onii-chan?" her eyes hopelessly pleading that he had her stuff animal.

Sorrow filled his eyes as he opened his mouth and then closed it back up, shallowly deeply. _'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...what am I suppose say?' _How could he tell her that he didn't have Popochi or even know where her previous stuffed fox was? _'Oh shiiiiitttt...' _but before he could come up with some kind of an excuse, Kakashi broke his thoughts with "Is this Popochi?"

All heads turned to him, who was holding a medium sized orange three tailed fox in his left hand. His chuunin team and Tsunade blinked a couple of times, wondering where in god's name did the thing come from. While Umi's eyes brighten considerably, she pushed herself out of her sister's hold and ran over to the silver haired jounin, yelling "Popochi! Popochi!" with her arms extended for the orange fox.

Kakashi lowered the stuffed animal to her level and she grabbed the fox tightly, giving it a bear hug and kissing it's head. Raiden let out a sigh of relief that the stuffed animal wasn't permanently lost. _'Oh thank god...' _That would have been hell.

After a couple of moments of Umi gushing over her new found fox, she lifted her head to look at Kakashi. A big grin spread across her face, "Thank you for finding Popochi, Uncle 'Kashi." she said cheerfully. Kakashi stared with a lifted eyebrow, into those sapphire eyes that were undoubtedly Naruto's. Then his visible eye turned into an upside down 'U' when he realized that all five children's characteristics matched two of his very _male_ students and almost chuckled at the thought. "Your quite welcome!"

She turned and was about to go back to her older siblings when she saw Naruto standing a few feet from her with a soft smile on his face. Her expression turned flat as her eyes widened at the sight of him. Her lip began to quiver slightly as her hand slackened, almost dropping Popochi to the floor.

Naruto's smile turned into a frown from the reaction of the small girl. _'What the hell is wrong with me? Why do they always want to cry when they look at me?'_

Sasuke, Sakura, Tsunade and even Kakashi were staring at Umi with interest. But it was a different story with Raiden. He was giving Chidori a look that clearly said _get her before she says anything_. He would do it himself if he could move without painful spasms going through him.

Chidori rose to her feet and quickly walked to her little sister. "Umi..." she said softly, Umi turned her head to her with tears brimming her eyes. "Onee-chan..." she whimpered, as Chidori hoisted her up. She wrapped her legs around her waist and wrapped one arm around her neck while the other clutched her stuffed fox to her chest. She rested her head on her sister's shoulder as she continued to stare at Naruto. Then her sapphire orbs drifted over to stare at Sasuke, then back to Naruto and then to the raven again. Completely and utterly confused...

Tsunade lifted her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat to catch everyone's attention. "If the hostage situation and reunion is over, I need to check and probably re-heal some of the brat's wounds." she said all this while glaring at the blond boy on the floor. Raiden immediately lost the softness within his onyx eyes and glared right back at her. Not losing his backbone at all when she began to come closer to him.

She walked the distance between her and the boy with a prominent smirk on her face. Then bent down and leaned in close to his ear, so hopefully only he could hear and possibly the twins that were near. "Isn't that right, Uchiha Raiden..."


	5. Wish You Were Here

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Five

**Wish You Were Here**

The sky was clear with only a few clouds littering the blueness that shown like a still sea. Filling the atmosphere with a tranquility that showered over the land. All in all it was a beautiful day...Though if you asked one blond boy, he would say differently.

Raiden laid sprawled across the white bed, with his legs hanging oddly off one side of the bed while his head and left arm were hanging off the other side of the bed comfortably. He was bored. He never knew that you could become so bored that you find yourself staring at a small crack in the ceiling with extreme fascination. Right about now he knew that crack inside and out, since he's been analyzing it for the past hour.

Oh yeah, this was also about the same time he realized he had no life...what so ever.

'Cause how can you have a life when you have no idea how you got to _god knows where land_. In a time where you don't even suppose to exist. That really puts a damper on _you have a life_ thing.

Plus, it doesn't help that he's been stuck in the hospital for the passed _three days _STRAIGHT! He hates the hospital. He's not even allowed to leave his room just because they think he might escaped to tell some non-existent enemies some _important _information about what kind of pain killers they give their patients.

This definitely explains his boredom. And with another hour of staring up at that ceiling crack and he just knew that they were gonna become the best of friends. And that's pretty sad...

Though it's not like he doesn't get visitors. His sisters and brothers visit him everyday for about a couple of hours at a time. And those lucky little squirts weren't current resistances of the hospital, they got discharged the day after his hostage situation. They were currently living with Sasuke at the Uchiha compound. Oh, how he wished he could of saw his reaction when he was told that. A smug smile formed when he thought about that.

He also got frequent visits from Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Though he had a feeling that Naruto was the only one that wanted to visit and Sasuke followed him for unknown reasons that were showed and then with Sakura following the raven for the most obvious reason possible. But he enjoyed the visits with the blond, even if it hurt to see him each time. At least he got to see him again...Which was something he would cherish for a long time.

His body shifted restlessly in it's hospital gown. A hospital gown he's been wearing every since he was put in this wretched place. And he swears the damn thing is beginning to attract various types of bugs. But he couldn't prove it cause they always seem to disappear when someone shows up within his temporary room. Or, and this theory he was beginning to believe, that this place was driving him insane and that his _vivid_ imagination is seeing these insects out of its extreme boredom.

His onyx eyes drifted over to the clean pair of clothes on the table by his bed. The pair of clothes he couldn't wait to change into, which will be in less than a day. Oh yeah, tomorrow he's being discharged from this building of white disgust. Cause if he has to stay in this place any longer than necessary then they're gonna have another suicide case on their hands.

A groan escaped his lips as he felt an oncoming cramp filling his left leg from laying in the same position too long. He removed his longing eyes from the clean clothes and pushed himself up, some of his bones popping in the process. The sound making him internally cringe as he folded his legs underneath him and sat indian style.

He turned to gaze at the clock hanging on the opposite wall and saw that it was almost time for the daily visit of Tsunade. He wasn't sure if he liked her visits or not. That was undecided since she knew about almost everything about them. Well, everything that needs to be know. Ever since that _lovely_ interview...

_

* * *

_

Tsunade got herself comfortable in a chair that was positioned on the left side of his Raiden's hospital bed. A clipboard in hand and a sickly sweet smile spread across her features that was directed at the younger male. Who felt extremely uncomfortable with the particular look from the woman.

"_So..." she began in a sickening manner, "Let's start out with something easy." She glanced down at her clipboard and asked, "What's your name, brat?"_

_Raiden rolled his eyes before answering, "Uchiha Raiden." It's not like she didn't already know that answer to that overly used question, she was just trying to torture him. And the way she was writing down his response on that paper oh so painfully slow, just proved he was right. Damn old hag..._

"_Alright, age?" _

_His left eye twitched but answered none the less. "Fourteen and my rank is chuunin." he added the extra information before she could bother asking. Knowing she was going to anyway. So why not?_

_She gave a low chuckle at his quick annoyance and wrote the information down. "Who are your parents?" This question literally had him smashing the back of his head into his pillow. 'Argg...why me? Why did I have to get stuck with this woman's sadist habits?' _

"_They brat I don't want to heal any injuries that your gonna cause yourself! So stop that!" she yelled at the boy while pointing her pen at him. _

_With a low grumble he reluctantly stopped what he was doing and answered her ridiculous question in a groan. "Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Naruto." _

_A eyebrow rose on Tsunade's features. "Oh, so they're married?" _

_Raiden let out a undignified snort before he could stop himself. 'Nooo...really?' he thought sarcastically while looking at the old woman like she was stupidest person on earth. Which resulted in her eyes narrowing at the blond boy with her pen tapping on her clipboard in an annoying fashion. "How did you get here?" _

"_If I knew that, me nor my siblings would still be here." his voice sharped as his eyes glared at her._

_But she ignored the fierce glare--she already had to deal with one and with that came with a slight immunity. "Hmmm...do your parents know your here?"_

_Okay, now this question has reach the top of the most stupidest questions asked to him. It wouldn't have been if he wasn't presently stuck in a alternate reality or in the past or in the past IN an alternate reality. But since he was--no matter which one it was--it made it quite stupid. "No. I don't think my Tou-san knows that we're here."_

"_And your Tou-san is Sasuke, right?" wanting to make sure she had the right face to go with each name._

"_Hmn."_

"_Then your mother is Naruto?"_

"_Hmn." _

"_Would you like to explain how that could happen?" she asked, even knowing the possible answer. _

"_No." he said tersely, "Why don't you come up with your own conclusions." He didn't want to talk about anything involving his mother. That was too much of a sore subject to speak of. And he wouldn't let this large breasted woman get to him. Not on something like that--not on something that could easily get him to cry._

* * *

Raiden snapped his mind out of his memories before they drifted further back into past, to a time where he didn't want to think about. He stretched his legs out across the white sheet and used his legs to help slide himself off the bed. His awful hospital gown riding up some until he stood on his bare feet, when gravity took back hold of the material and fell back straight.

He walked over to the open window, the pad of his feet making a soft slapping noise on the tile flooring. He placed his hands on the window's edge and leaned some of his weight on it. Looking out and down at the villager's passing by the building.

At one moment, a woman with two children walked by. Well, it was more like she was chasing one playfully and holding the other securely on her hip. It was that moment where he had enough of staring at the passing villagers and decided to lift his head and vision to the sky above.

It wasn't as clear as earlier. There were ugly gray clouds that were beginning to form. Probably for a later storm to moisten the earth below. But while gazing at them, there was this slow sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was something not normal about those clouds. A weird feeling. And his senses were nagging at him, like a annoying child constantly poking you in your arm, to get to his siblings because something was going to happen.

His thumb began to tap on the railing as his teeth bit his inner lip anxiously. He suddenly turned on his heels and dived on his bed, reaching his hand out for the clean clothes. And just at that very moment, when he decided to escape this wretched place, Tsunade decides to burst into the room.

He froze in mid-snatch of the clothes and eyed the older woman innocently. She smirk wickedly at the boy, "What do you think you're going to do with those clothes, brat?"

Raiden shrugged as best he could in his position and then sat up. "Nothing. Just wanted to feel what normal clothes felt like. You see, I was trying to fondle them. Closet pervert, you know." he deadpanned, not giving any indication that he was joking.

Tsunade shook her head sadly, "Uchiha's..." she murmured, "Only they could say something like that with a straight face." She took a breath of annoyance, wishing that she didn't have to deal with a kid that had both of those brat's blood in him. "Well, it's time for your checkup!" she suddenly said with pure happiness lacing her voice.

The blond boy mentally groaned, _'Sadist...' _

* * *

Sasuke huffed in annoyance at the small blond girl with her hand innocently lifted to him. Fighting down the urge to glare a certain death on a five year old. That would definitely put him in the category of _bad guy_ if he succeeded in scaring a little girl. But that didn't stop him from glaring a little at the nuisance by him with slight wariness swirling in their depths.

He stared down into those sapphire eyes that were in the form of the dangerous puppy dog eyes. And all he could see when he looked into those orbs were Naruto. It was really disturbing, but what was more disturbing was how his resolve was crumbling just by that one look. A breath escaped his slightly parted lips, his eyes closing as he mentally groaned in defeat. He wrenched his hand out of his pants pocket as he grumbled something under his breath about going soft, and shoved it in front of the young blond's face.

Umi's face lit up at the reluctantly offered hand and grasped the limb firmly. Well, firmly for a five year old and began walking down the main street of the Uchiha compound, hand in hand. Chidori, who was behind the two, was trying to hold back her snickers at her younger sister's victory over the stoic boy. She was surprise that she even got her way with him. Especially when his attitude is like how it is right now.

Her sister and brother, Sora and Kaze, were holding each one of her hands while they walked by her sides. They weren't as close as when they first got here, they were still wary of the people they recognized but at least they weren't crying or hiding every time they saw them. She thought this was a great improvement.

Sasuke took a quick glance at the blond girl walking by his right side. _'Why did she want to hold my hand?'_ he questioned as they exited the compound and entered the general village of Konoha. He had a few ideas on who these children were, which by the way, he still hasn't gotten the answer to why they have the sharingan. And he doubts that he every will at this rate. So he came up with his own logical and a couple illogical theories onto why.

At first he thought they were Itachi's--but the more he thought about it, the more that theory didn't match up at all angles. For one, he would have to have the oldest like when he was four and would have to stay within the presence of the same woman for over ten years. And he couldn't see Itachi tolerating someone and showing some form of affection toward this person for that long. Plus, this person would have to have a lot of Naruto's physical characteristics.

That was just plain creepy to think about. That his sadistic brother would be with or purposely look for someone who looked liked Naruto. A scowl set on his features at this thought. It would explain why Itachi was so interested in him that time. Could he have a thing for the blond? His eyes flashed to his sharingan as his jealousy spiked.

Umi looked up at Sasuke when she felt the ominous aura around the stoic boy while Chidori and the twins eyed him curiously at the sudden change in mood. But Sasuke ignored the gazes directed at him as his mind had his own argument.

He was not gonna let his brother have Naruto! He was _his_ dobe, dammit! His steps faltered for a nanosecond as he willed his mind to backtrack. _His_ dobe...? His eyes widened for a fraction while they turned back into their onyx color. _'Ohhh no no no no...I did not just think that!'_ That damn blond idiot isn't _his_ in _any way_! There's nothing between the two and never will be. NEVER!

Quickly moving on...

His other theory was more plausible, that he still had some relatives that didn't get killed in massacre. He would most likely believe this if not for the fact that some of the kids looked like Naruto. He couldn't come up with any logical theories that matched with that little fact. Unless, Naruto also has some relatives that he didn't know about and by mere coincidence, had a few kids with one of his own relatives.

Ahhh...too bad he doesn't believe in coincidences. So that made that theory a _little_ unlikely.

Now his last theory, which was soooo far-fetched that he wasn't even sure if he wanted to even humor the idea. But for some reason it explained a few things that the others didn't. But then again, it also involved the thing that would _never_ happen between him and Naruto. So why did this theory come to his mind to begin with? Well, it could have been the reaction of Sora to Naruto and all of the other's reactions to both of them. It was too strange for his mind to ignore and this is how his mind came up and began to connect things to this _extremely far out there_ theory.

And aside from the fact that there were two downfalls to this theory. One of the facts was completely impossible while the other went against nature itself. There was no possibility that time travel could happen. The council even dropped the subject because they knew that it was pointless. And when those old--power hungry—geezers stop something that could give Konoha more power, then you know it was impossible.

Now the other downfall was world wide knowledge, MEN CAN'T HAVE KIDS! Period. No--ands, ifs, buts--about it. It goes against the male anatomy in _all_ the wrong ways.

But put those two things aside and it would make perfect sense. Too bad you need those two things to have that theory make sense anyway.

Sasuke mentally sighed at all the things running through his mind. He didn't know which theory he wanted to believe. Even if he wanted to believe any of them. The first two were obviously more logical than the last one, which almost crossed the line to ludicrous. But he couldn't bring himself to dismiss the impossible probability that it could be true. That was the only, and he meant _only_, reason why it was still on his theories list.

The small group stepped upon the path to the bridge, where Team Seven always met for their meetings. Chidori glanced around at the scenery as they passed, feeling a little homesick when she found the similarities. "Are you sure Kakashi-san won't mind if we come?" she asked yet again.

_'That's the third time...' _Sasuke mentally counted and "Hmn." in response to her. How many times is she going to ask before she's convinced that it's fine? Kakashi's a reasonable guy, its not like he would care one way or another. As long as he had his precious book within his grasp, he's fine with anything in the world.

His vision focus out of its daze when he caught sight of a blond head on the bridge. When he looked closer, he realized that it was the person he's been thinking about too much. _'Naruto...?' _he thought with a lifted eyebrow. _'What's he doing here this early?'_ The blond's never been here first. It was always that Sasuke would get to the bridge first, then Sakura and _then_ Naruto. It was some kind of unspoken ritual for the three. But now it throws the whole thing off.

* * *

All the while, Naruto's been in his own world. Hell, his own universe. Not paying attention to anything in his surroundings around him. He was still a little shell shock of what Kyuubi had to say the night before.

He really thinks the old fox has finally lost it...or going senile. Either way, there was something seriously wrong with him if he thought up something like this. To think that these five kids came from either, now get this, a alternative dimension or the future. And then to say it without letting out a single snicker--and to Naruto--how he did that was beyond him. It was purely ridiculous, neither of those things were suppose to he possible.

But that wasn't the only thing. And this thing was the one that kept him up all night, thinking about the possibility of what the fox said was true. Because Kyuubi said that those five kids, each one of them, their scent was similar to his. And, according to Kyuubi, the only way this could happen is if they were his Kits. Kits meaning children. CHILDREN!

Ohhhh...but that was only half of it though. It appears, which Kyuubi was laughing at this point, that Naruto wasn't the father but the mother. That wasn't the point that got to Naruto, he could live with that. Because he already knew that his sexuality might lean closer to the same sex. So he didn't have a problem with knowing that he was going to turn out gay, nope that didn't bother him one bit. It's who the father was that struck him hard. And did it strike _hard_...

Because who would believe that he, Uzumaki Naruto, would have children with none other than Uchiha--fucking--Sasuke. The number one anti-social bastard in this whole village. The same person who hates his guts with his entire. Fuck, Naruto couldn't imagine the stoic bastard having children period. It's just not something he could see.

Naruto's ears picked up footsteps further up the path. He turned to see, already having a feeling of who it was. And his heart began to beat faster as a deep blush covered his whiskered cheeks when he saw that it was Sasuke. Though he would deny his body ever did this if _anyone_ ever asked.

Then his brows knitted together as his eyes blinked a couple of times to see if he was seeing right. Because the Sasuke he knew would never let anyone hold his hand. Not anyone. But there was little Umi holding the stoic boy's hand like it was a normal occurrence for her. Which it could be. She wore a cute sunflower decorated dress with sandals adorning her small feet. Her angelic blond hair was put up in several ponytails, making her look so adorable. And of course, can't forget about Popochi. Who was securely in the hold of her right arm with a yellow bow decorating his left ear.

A couple of steps behind Sasuke, walked Chidori with the twins. Chidori wore a deep red sleeveless wrap around shirt with short jeans shorts that had black knee length spandex shorts underneath them. She also had a weapons pouch (that she borrowed from Sasuke) attached to her right thigh and one attached to the back of her waist and shinobi sandals on her feet. Her waist length black hair was now french braided in three different places and tightly wrapped around in a bun at the nape of her neck.

Kaze, who was walking on her right side, wore a plain black long sleeve shirt with knee length blue jeans and tennis shoes. His black hair was neatly brushed and naturally spiking in the back as normal. While his twin sister Sora, who was walking on Chidori's left side, wore a short sleeved white shirt with colorful flowers embroidered on the bottom left side and on both of her sleeves. She also wore black capri jeans and sandals. Her black hair was pulled up into two high pigtails that bounced slightly with each of her steps.

When Umi's eyes landed on Naruto, she immediately let go of Sasuke's hand and ran forward to the older blond. "Naru-nii!" While Sasuke watched with curious eyes. _'They definitely look like they're related.'_

Naruto pushed himself off the railing, forgetting about the revelations that were revealed to him for the time being and bent down to Umi's level. The small girl particularly jumped right into his arms, almost making him topple backwards. "Good morning to you too, Umi-chan!" he greeted cheerfully as he patted her back.

Umi pulled out of the hug and lifted Popochi to Naruto's face. "Don't forget Popochi!"

Naruto smiled sheepishly while bringing his hand behind his head. "How could I forget..." Then used the same hand that was behind his head to pat the stuffed fox gently on the head and lowered himself closer to the stuffed animal. "Good morning Popochi! How are you this fine morning?!"

This caused the small girl to giggle at the other and brought the fox back closer to her being. "Popochi's fine!" she said between giggles.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the two blonds in front of him. But he couldn't find the scene before him annoying. It was kind of--if he dare think it--cute. "Dobe..." he muttered as he shook his head back and forth in amusement.

Upon hearing his usual nickname from the raven, Naruto's head snapped up to tell him off like any other normal day. But when his eyes lock with those piercing onyx, he froze. The blush from earlier resurfacing tenfold on his face. "Ummm..." came the unintelligent retort.

"Great comeback usuratonkachi." the other deadpanned while quirking an eyebrow at the unusual behavior of the blond. Who lifted his hand to his cheek and scratched the flesh located there sheepishly. He nervously chuckled before stuttering, "Y-Yeah...I think I-I might of woke up wrong..." _'Or just didn't wake up at all...'_ he silently finished to himself.

"Oh! Hey Chidori-chan!" he quickly and loudly greeted before Sasuke could say anything else.

Chidori gave him a gentle smile, "Good morning Naruto-san. How..." but before she could finish, Naruto exclaimed, "Naruto! Please no suffix! We're friends, aren't we?"

She looked down at the ground guiltily and kicked at the ground softly. "Yes...sorry, Naruto. But my Tou-san has always taught me to be respectful to people that deserve it." This, if it was even possible, made his blush deepen. "Anyway, how was your morning?"

Naruto straightened while he said, "Oh, just fine. Everything normal."

"Except for you being here first. That's not normal." stated Sasuke. Which resulted in the blond growling at him. "Shut up teme! I can get here early if I want to!"

"Whatever usuratonkachi. Still doesn't make it normal."

Naruto let another inhuman growl out at the other. But didn't say anything else, instead he turned his attention to the twins. "Morning Kaze-chan, morning Sora-chan!" giving the two the opposite expression than just a few moments before.

Sora gave a small, "Hello..." while Kaze hesitantly lifted his small hand and waved slightly without saying a single word.

Umi waited patiently for all the greetings to get down with before she hurriedly ran to Sora and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding their older sister's. "Come on Nee-chan, Nii-chan!" giving a small tug on her sister's arm. "Let's go play by the water!" and before Chidori could say anything, the two girls were already scurrying off the bridge with Kaze following them.

"Wait, you three!" she yelled at her younger siblings while she quickly followed them off the bridge and to the edge of the river. Wanting to make sure they didn't fall in or get hurt in any way. Naruto followed suit and sat down by Umi. Who was giggling at the fish swimming within the water.

Sasuke stayed on the bridge, leaning his elbows on the wooden railing as he watched Naruto and Chidori entertain the small children.

* * *

Tsunade finally left, _'Thank god!'_ He didn't know how much longer he could take with the same questions about if this or that hurt or not. If it didn't hurt yesterday, it's not gonna hurt today. But obviously that woman doesn't see it that way, especially when she personally wants to torture you until you finally snap.

But guess what?

He was _not_ going to let that crazy old hag get the better of him. His left eye may of twitched spasmodically throughout the checkup and some people would consider that a symptom to start some serious therapy. But to him that was not a therapy signal, it was just a mere sign that he was getting annoyed with the person. Nothing more! End of discussion!

A growl escaped his throat as he glared death upon the closed door across the room. He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm down his extremely high annoyance level. When he reopened them, he glanced over at the still open window and his heart stopped for a second. His eyes growing to about the size of saucers at the almost blackened clouds outside.

_'Oh shit...'_ was the last thing he thought before snatching the clothes off of the table by his bed and changing in record time. Then jumping out of the hospital window and heading in the direction where his sibling's chakra signatures were located.

* * *

Sasuke looked up at the darkening sky, his brows furrowing at the unnatural speed that it did so. Something wasn't right. He continued to stare up at the ominous clouds, watching them as they grew more nasty looking. The wind from this freak storm was furiously blowing around the area. Causing Sakura, who arrived at the bridge ten minutes ago, to scream out next to him. "What's going on!"

Naruto, Chidori and the three younger ones came back on the bridge when the storm became worse. Chidori holding the twins hands tightly while Umi was being carried by Naruto. Her one arm encircled around the blond's neck while her other gripped Popochi in a frighten manner. "We need to get inside!" yelled Naruto over the howling wind.

Everyone else whole-heartedly agreed, even if Sasuke didn't show that he did. But instead of showing, the raven quickly stepped forward and swiftly lifted Kaze up into his arms. He wasn't caring at the moment of the reasons for his actions. All he knew was, they needed to get out of there and fast.

Like Sasuke, Chidori lifted Sora into her arms just as a flash of lightning illuminating the sky, causing a loud crash of thunder to follow. Making the younger ones and Sakura and Chidori to whimper and gasp out.

_**'Kit, you need to get out of there!'**_ yelled Kyuubi within Naruto's mind.

_'What do you think we're trying to do!' _

_**'Then move faster! Just get out of there NOW!' **_

The panic within Kyuubi's voice wasn't boding well with Naruto. He's never heard him get like that before. "Come on! We have to go!" he yelled with just as must panic as Kyuubi, to the others.

Naruto, Sakura and Chidori almost jumped out of their skin when Raiden abruptly landed in front of them, while Sasuke barely flinched at his sudden appearance.

Raiden was bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. He ran all the way there within two to three minutes. He would of been slightly impressed with himself if he wasn't worried out of his mind. Before he even caught his breath, he grasped Chidori's shoulder. Pushing her and the others before him and down the path, while panting out, "Move!"

But before they even got halfway down the path, everything seemed to stop. The wind was no more and neither were the flashes of lightning or the loud rumbles of thunder. Not even the natural animals in the forest were making any noise. This eerie silence made the group stop in their steps and glance around at their surroundings. Wondering why it was so quiet when seconds before they could barely hear each other yell.

And exactly three seconds later, a blinding white light flashed in front of everyone's vision. Causing them to recoil and clench their eyes shut to block out the light.

Then everything was enveloped in darkness. The small group feeling the undeniable sensation of falling through that endless black...

* * *

Two hours later, a puff of smoke appeared on the railing of the bridge. And once the smoke cleared, there squinted Kakashi with his attention in his--never leaving his hand--book. "Sorry I'm late but..." he began and never finished when he noticed that there was no one on the bridge to even hear his lie. _'Hmmm...that's odd...'_

He jumped off the railing and went to check the training grounds to see if his _favorite_ students decided to start without him. But when he didn't find them, he came back to the bridge and stood in the middle of it. _'It's not like them to not show up. Maybe once in a while with Naruto but never all three.'_ Then his eye caught something yellow contrasting against the reddish orange paint of the bridge.

Kakashi bent down and picked up the material. _'A bow?'_ he thought questionably, as he looked closer at the object.

He closed his hand around the bow and stuck it in his pocket as he began to walk down the path. _'Guess I better go find my three little missing students and show them why they should come to these meetings when I say.'_ he mentally chuckled at the thought that he would be able to torture his students some more _and_ with good reason. Ahhh, this was going to be a good day.

The silver haired jounin stepped off the path and into the busy streets of Konoha without passing or sensing anything abnormal...


	6. The Road to Where

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Six

**The Road to.....Where?**

_Light....._

_Blinding light was boring into his partly open eyes. He tried to will his eyelids the rest of the way closed but they refused to budge. His eyes focused a little more, making the extreme blurring of his vision, less. With this slight more focus, he could tell that the overly bright light was coming from a lamp positioned over his body. Like one of those used in a hospital.'That's odd, where am I?' _

_Out of the corner of his unresponsive eyes, he caught sight of some kind of movement. He attempted to turned his head to the side but like his eyes, his head wouldn't budge. This unresponsiveness of his body was starting to freak him out. Actually he was beginning to panic. 'What the hell's going on?! Kyuu!' he yelled within his head._

_But there was no response from the demon fox. No matter how much he yelled for him, there was nothing. Only this painfully numb feeling. And it wasn't his body, because he could feel his body, he just couldn't move any part of it. Like he had no control over it's actions. But this feeling, he could tell, it wasn't his. Then it hit him, nothing about this body or the feelings that were dangerously bubbling underneath the numbness were his. _

_He didn't understand how he couldn't feel it before now. How there was two separate emotions. His and someone's that was slowly trying to overload him with those emotions that's grazing him with so much emotional pain. And this body, he felt like he was watching from the sidelines and not participating in its movements at all. But the other someone, whoever this other person is, that person isn't in control either. He could feel it. _

_There was no control...... _

_Someone with a face he didn't recognize appeared in his line of vision. His hand holding a weird looking syringe gun with black liquid inside. 'Oh shit, what is he gonna do with that?' The feelings of panic and fear growing within his own emotions. As some sort of recognition to the tool and a hardening to what was expected next, came from the other. _

"_Ahhh.....you've done so well so far Iida. Soon you'll be ready for what's coming next....." said the unknown person above him as he lowered his hand that held the syringe closer to the area around his neck. _

_'Iida? Who the fuck's Iida?! I'm not Iida! So get that thing the fuck away from me!!' he futilely yelled within his mind, wishing that this body's lips would move with what he was saying, dammit! He tried to move away from the syringe coming for him but it was no use. It was also this moment when he realized that he was laying on something hard and cool. Something that reminded him of metal. _

_The person above him, positioned the syringe to the side of his neck and roughly stuck it within the flesh. Damn, for a body that wasn't his or couldn't move, that hurt. It felt like three separate needles penetrated the skin. Then the person pushed a button upon the syringe and the black liquid shot within the body all at once. Making a kind of 'whoosh' noise as it did so. The person took the syringe gun out of his neck and took a pace back from the table._

_At first, he only felt a small amount of burning at the entry wound but that burning sensation soon turned into excruciating burning throughout the entire body. Like molten larva running through his veins......_

* * *

A blood cuddling scream escaped Naruto's mouth as his body convulsed.

Two strong hands gripped his shoulders and shook him roughly. "Naruto! Naruto wake up!!" yelled Sasuke, barely able to control the frantic concern leaking into his voice. _'Dammit, why won't he wake up?!' _he was becoming more panicked the longer the blond wouldn't awake from his disturbing slumber.

Sakura stood on the other side of the bed with her arms clutched close to her chest, tears brimming her eyes for her blond teammate. Who began to thrash against Sasuke's hold, as another scream echoed throughout the white room. She closed her eyes tightly and winced at the pain that filled the agonizing scream. Then she abruptly turned towards the large reflective window across the white room. "Help him!" she screamed to the people that she knew were standing behind that mirror.

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes snapped opened, causing Sasuke to gasp out and take a step back from the blond. It wasn't the sudden awareness that startled Sasuke, it was that the blond's usual breathtaking sapphires were an unusual shade of violet. But two seconds later they faded back into their original blue, giving the raven only a small glimpse at them.

All Naruto's vision saw was blinding white, the fear within his veins continuing pumping as he scurried back. Pressing his body as close as he could to the metal barred bed board of the bed he was laying on. His breathing was coming out in heavy gasps, his body trembling uncontrollably as his hazy and unfocused mind woke more from the horrifying slumber he was in.

His eyes darted around his surroundings, trying to get his barrings. He was in a completely white room with three plain hospital beds, positioned one after another, at the far wall. About six feet in front of the beds was another wall. But most of this was considered of a reflective glass window, resembling a huge mirror. At the wall to his right was a section divided off. He was guessing that, that was where the toilet and sink were located.

About a minute had passed, he regained his normal breathing and the trembling of his body lessoned slightly. But he still didn't say anything, which worried Sakura and Sasuke. Even if the raven didn't show it, he was worried of what just happened with the blond. He's never seen him act so......distressed. For once since the mission to Nami no Kuni(1), he was scared for another. And ironically enough, it was the same person who he was scared for before and was also willing to give his life for.

Sakura took a hesitate step forward, leaning her torso forward slightly and looking into the blond's face. "Naruto?" she asked with an unsure voice. When she got no response, she lifted her hand and touched his shoulder. Which caused him to jump a foot off the bed.

He turned his head and stared at the pink haired kunoichi. Who asked, "Naruto, are you alright? You were screaming and thrashing like you were possessed or something!"

"Yeah...." he began to reassure as his head nodded with a fox grin plaster on his features. "Yeah, I'm fine!" his voice filling with a cheerfulness that currently didn't exist in his being right now. He was still trying to regain his senses to what the hell just happened. He felt everything that was happening to him. No.....it wasn't him, the body he was in. It just felt so real.

_'Kyuu? Kyuu can you hear me?' _God he was hoping the fox would respond or else he was going to start really freaking out.

_**'Yeah Kit I'm here.'**_

He mentally let out a deep breath. _'Please tell me Kyuu that was just a dream.'_

_**'I......I'm really not sure what that was.....But I know that it wasn't a dream.' **_

_'Then what was it?'_

_**'Didn't you hear me the first time brat! I don't know!' **_

_'Alright, jeez.....' _he mentally murmured as he tried to will the remaining shakes within his body away. "Sorry guys if I worried you." His hand moving behind his head nervously. He wasn't feeling particularly fine but he didn't want them to worry over him for something that he couldn't really explain or that could easily be categorized as a dream. And he couldn't say that Kyuubi said that it wasn't a dream because his two teammates didn't know about his four-legged tenant within him. So, that was out of the question.

Sasuke, "Hmn." while still keeping his eyes locked on the blond. He wasn't going to believe that the other was alright, not when he could still see his tan body shaking slightly. Something scared him, he knew. Something with whatever he was dreaming about terrified him. He really was interested to what that something was. But he knew how the blond got when people started worrying over him. For someone who acts like he wants attention, sure doesn't want it when other people actually give it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sakura kept prodding, knowing full well that he wasn't looking 'fine' a minute before.

"Yeah, yeah....I'm fine! So where are we?!" changing the subject quickly as he looked around the white room again to emphasize his interest.

Sasuke decided to humor the blond's obvious change of subject, just to help him get Sakura off his back. He could understand how annoying she can be sometimes. "Some kind of hospital holding cell." his tone bland and lacking any kind of emotion.

"Holding cell?" repeated Naruto as he turned his attention to the raven. That's when he noticed that Sasuke wasn't wearing the clothes he remembered him wearing when he arrived at the bridge. Instead he was wearing a standard hospital gown. He looked over to Sakura and then to himself and saw that they both were also wearing hospital gowns. _'Now this is getting weirder and weirder....' _

"Hmn." the stoic boy began, "There are seals covering every section of this room--seals that will absorb your chakra if you try and use it. A one way mirror, where whoever put us in here can watch us closely. And if you actually look around, you can see that there's no visible exit." And that's what Naruto did, he looked around for the exit that he didn't seem to remember noticing in his frantic looking before.

As this was being said, Sakura hugged herself to comfort her growing nerves about this whole situation. Naruto ran his hand through his golden locks as he folded his legs underneath himself, so he would sit more comfortably on the bed. "Why would they put us inside a holding cell?! We didn't do anything!"

"How would I know idiot!" Sasuke snapped at the younger boy. He turned and walked to the bed right next to Naruto's and climbed on it, sitting himself down--indian style--in the middle of the bed. He positioned his elbows on his knees and interlaced his fingers. Then placed his chin on his interlaced hands and stared blankly in front of him at the reflective mirror. If he said that he wasn't nervous about this whole thing, he would be lying--and lying badly. But like hell was he going to admit that to anyone.

Like Naruto, he couldn't understand why they would be put into this kind of room. These rooms were made for dangerous criminals, who were out of control. They just had to send a few jounin's in here and there asses would be beat. So they weren't a major threat. Small one maybe, but not major. And they haven't done anything to warrant to be put within this room. Right?

"What was the last thing you two remember?" Sasuke asked the other two within the room.

Naruto thought for a moment and said the first thing that was presently blinding his vision. "White." he stated with distaste. He hated the color. It was so bland and lacked any warmth to it.

Sakura nodded her agreement with the blond, remembering that, that was the last thing she saw. "And that weird storm before that. We were all trying to get out of it."

That just reminded Naruto of something very important. "Where the hell are the others?!" darting his head around to see if he missed them somewhere within some non-existent hiding place.

"We don't know." deadpanned Sasuke, not showing that he _might_ be a little worried about the others whereabouts.

"Hmmm, they weren't here when we woke up, and we haven't seen them either.....obviously." she said the last word off-handedly, as she walked to the farthest bed from Naruto and gently sat upon the thin mattress. "What do you think is gonna happen to us? You don't think that Tsunade-sama put us in here do you?" The desperateness lacing her voice showing that she was scared of what was happening.

She had no idea of what was going on. She couldn't believe that Tsunade-sama would put them within this kind of room. So the other opinion that her mind came up with, was that the three of them and possibly the five kids were kidnapped. And that had her stomach twisting painfully.

Naruto growled an animalistic growl at the thin air, causing his teammates to turn their heads at the inhuman sound. "I swear if that OLD HAG did this, she is gonna have a EAR FULL from me!!"

* * *

Two women stood within the small room behind the glass, watching the three before them with interest.

The young woman standing to the right of the room let a small smile capture her features at what the blond said. A fondness within her sea-green eyes showing as she said, "Their mannerisms are definitely the same."

"Yeah they are...." lowly said the older woman to her left, with a rare softness to her voice and a smirk on her lips. "But the damn brat has always been loud." Then her smirk fell into a frown that normally adorned her features. "But this still could be some elaborate stunt. So, we still need to wait for the test results to come in."

The other nodded her head in understanding. "You know Shishou, this is quite foolish of me.....but I kinda hope that they are who they appear to be." She really wanted them to be, even if neither of them knew how they got here or how they would even send them back to where they belong, she really wanted their appearances to be true.....

"You're not the only one." said the older woman with a low chuckle. "It would definitely make things more interesting around here."

The younger's smile grew, knowing that she wasn't the only one getting her hopes up. But then it fell as fast as it came. "Or it can make things more complicated." she said as she let out a deep depressed sigh.

"I'll take it that you haven't told him yet."

"Why am I the one that's obligated to tell him." she snapped at the older woman without thinking. But being a smart girl, she recovered quickly by saying in a solemn voice, "No, I haven't told him. Even if he should have been the first one to know. After all, he is Anbu Captain and it was his children that were missing. I just....." she took a short pause to get her words in order. "I just couldn't tell him for the fear of what his reaction would be."

She turned her head, so now she was facing the older woman to her left. "You know how he gets when anything that even remotely involves _him_!" her voice rising with each word she spoke.

The other lifted an eyebrow at the young girl's emotions that were rising from one--at the beginning--innocent conversation. "You don't have to explain your reasoning to me. You're the one that's gonna have to deal with him _when_ he finds out." And that's when she felt a strong killing intent coming down the hall and towards the little room the two of them were currently standing in. "Well, I'm guessing he talked to those brats of his......"

The door to the room suddenly burst open, causing the two women to turn toward the now damaged wood. The older woman remained calm while the younger one wished she wasn't within a mile of the male currently standing in the doorway with his red eyes glaring death upon the two......

_

* * *

_

Five hours later.....

Sakura sat on her bed, quietly playing with the hem of her hospital gown. Her sea-green eyes staring at nothing in particular. Sasuke also sat upon his bed in the same position that was in hours before. His eyes unconsciously watching Naruto pace back and forth across the room. His stomach fluttering every time he caught a glimpse of the other's bale back.

Naruto was biting his thumb nail nervously while he paced. Doing this act helped him not to talk so much, which--a couple of hours before--he found out that it wasn't wise to annoy the youngest Uchiha. Especially when your in a stressful situation and in an enclosed place with not that much room to maneuver in. Quite the bad idea. He definitely learned _that_ the hard way.

If he just kept his body active, maybe the time would go faster or maybe be could ignore the growing hunger in his stomach. _'Great.....I just have to get hungry in a kidnapped situation. That's fucking brilliant.....'_ but he could never control his stomach's urge to eat. It always came up at the worst of times. Even if he hadn't eaten anything--not even breakfast--all day. So, you couldn't really blame him for being hungry at a time like this.

At that moment, his stomach chose to emphasize its hunger by grumbling loudly. Causing Sakura to turn her head in his direction while Sasuke had his left eyebrow quirk. The blond's feet stopped in their constant pacing as a light blush covered his whiskered cheeks. He turned to see if the other two heard his embarrassing grumble and by the way they were staring at him, they did.

He let out one of his loud obnoxious chuckles as he lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his head. "Guess I'm a little hungry."

"Dobe.....you might want to get use to it. It appears that we're not gonna get fed anytime soon."

This caused Naruto to pout for all he was worth. _'No food....' _Which in turn, caused Sasuke to automatically think, _'Adorable...' _with a smirk showing on his features. Then that smirk fell when he realized what he thought. _'Damn, what's wrong with me?'_ he thought with a mental groan.

Naruto lazily turned to his right and approached the reflective mirror, still with a pout on his face. Once he was staring intently at the mirror his features changed to an angry scowl. "You know...." Directing his words to whoever was behind the glass. He crossed his arms over his chest as he continued, ".....it is a cruel thing to deny a man some food." _'And denying me my daily source of ramen!'_ "Cruel, cruel people you are."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, _'The idiot's probably only worried about getting ramen.'_

"Naruto-baka, stop doing that! It could aggravate our captors!" screeched Sakura from her bed, her body shaking slightly from her growing nerves. And it didn't help any that Naruto hasn't sat down at any moment.

The blond slowly turned back around and leaned his back against the mirror. He could tell that Sakura was scared about what was going to happen next to them. And personally he couldn't really blame her. They've been in here for hours and no one has come into the room to see them, to check them or fuck.....to threaten them. He could deal with being threatened. At least then, they would know who they were dealing with.

But this waiting was slowly driving him insane. He wasn't the type of person that liked to be locked within a small room for hours. He needed his freedom outside of these stone walls. He solemnly pushed himself off the reflective glass and assumed his pacing back and forth.

Sasuke's eyes once again followed the blond in front of him as he paced the tile floors. The slapping noises emitting from the contact of his feet against the floor was--oddly enough--calming his nerves. He had no idea what the three of them were going to do. With every situation he played out in his head, they always came out at the losing end of it and in a couple, getting one or two of them killed. No.....he didn't like the endings to those because Naruto was always the one that got himself killed.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled the same breath slowly. Hoping to dispel the mental image and the feeling that accompanied the image of a dead Naruto......

* * *

The older woman was currently alone within the small room, watching the trio through the glass. Waiting for the younger female to come back with the test results. God, she was hoping that these three were true to their appearances and mannerisms. They looked so much like them, she didn't know how she would handle it if they were only spies. Then the interrogators would have to torture them until they said or changed back to who they really were. To torture them in that appearance would shatter the pieces of her already broken heart.

She heard a loud bang behind her and turned to see that the damaged door that suffered a previous attack, was now laying on the floor in shattered pieces. The older woman sighed, _'I wonder what the average is at replacing all these doors around Konoha is?' _

"They're real!!" yelled the younger woman as she hurried over the now broken pieces of the destroyed door. "They're real!!" she yelled again as she quickly approached the other and shoved the test results in her hands, so she could she for herself.

The older one skimmed through them, her grin growing wider the farther she got in the report. She looked back up, her chocolate brown eyes overflowing with relief as she noticed that the younger female was shifting her weight back and forth on her feet. Her excitement barely being cover upped.

They both stared at each other for a long moment before both of them began screaming and hugging each other from pure happiness.

This continued for another half a minute, until they calmed down and separated. Their breathing a little heavier than normal from showing their mini celebration. "What are we gonna go with them now? They can't stay in there?" the younger one asked after she regained her composure.

A wicked smile appeared on the older woman's features. _'Oh no, she already has something planned.' _

"Ohhh......I wouldn't worry about that." she said smugly as she turned and began walking to the destroyed door. "You just inform them of their situation and get them something to wear and I'll make sure our little Anbu Captain has some house quests."

"Him!" she yelled, startled at her absurd suggestion. "Are you sure he won't kill them?!" She couldn't believe that her Shishou would put the three of them with _him_.

The other only gave her a smug smile before she exited the room. _'I hope his children won't let their father kill them.....' _

* * *

Three sets of eyes immediately snapped to the right side wall by the reflective glass when they heard this suction cup sound throughout the room. It seems that a door was expertly hidden within that chuck of wall and now that door was opening.

Naruto began to slowly back away to the other two, who were now off their beds with Sasuke slightly in front of Sakura. But apparently Naruto wasn't moving fast enough because Sasuke came forward and roughly grabbed his arm, wrenching the blond back to stand next to him. But Naruto didn't complain about the treatment, his eyes were staying firmly on the slow opening door, just as Sasuke's were. The raven's body ready to begin fighting if it came to it.

The three stood rigid as a female figure covered in shadows stood within the doorway. The heels on her boots clicking on the hard floor as she walked into the light of the room, showing the younger ones her features.

Sakura gasped loudly as she took a step back from shock. Her backside bumping into her bed, which caused her to lose her balance and stumbled into a sitting position upon the mattress.

Sasuke was shamelessly gaping at the woman in front of them. _'How the fuck.....?' _

Naruto's mouth was hanging open with his eyes the size of saucers. He numbly turned and looked at Sakura behind him and then back at the woman in front of him. He did this a couple more times before keeping his gaping expression focused at the woman.

"Sa...." he tried to say but his voice wasn't really working at the moment. He swallowed deeply, moistening his suddenly dry throat and tried again, "Sa-Sa-Sak-kura-c-chan?"

The young woman with pink hair and sea-green eyes standing before them adored a smile on her features from the cuteness of the blond, and merely affirmed what he called her with a soft but firm, "Hai."


	7. By and By

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Seven

**By-and-By**

Sasuke and Naruto were presently within a small office that held a medium sized cluttered desk, a large cushy desk chair pushed under the desk, two uncomfortable looking chairs positioned in front of the desk and a couple of book shelves filled with books and other odds and ends on the shelves. They both had their backs firmly toward each other as they changed out of the hospital gowns they were wearing and into something normal.

Naruto's face was beet red as his ears picked up the rustle of clothing being discarded from the boy across the room behind him. He, himself, took that disgraceful hospital gown off his body and let it fall to the floor near his feet. He quickly bent down to the pile of normal clothes laying on the floor and grabbed the khaki shorts at the bottom of the pile. _'Dammit, why did you have to be right you fucking fox!'_ he yelled at Kyuubi within him.

Kyuubi smirk wickedly, _**'You should be used to it by now Kit. I'm always right, you should know that.' **_

He growled at his inner tenant at being _oh so humble_. Naruto could barely look at Sasuke without feeling his face burn. He couldn't help it. How would you feel if you found out that the guy that's your rival/best friend will be the future father of your children. And to _even_ have those children, you need to perform the basic primal act.

Sex.

Personally he's never thought of Sasuke that way. He's never imagined doing anything sexual with him. Not touching, not kissing and definitely not having sex with him. Not yet anyways. That is, until _now_. Now his mind was unwillingly showing very vivid scenes of touching and kissing the raven and the raven doing the same to him. And he's shamefully admits that it excites him. Really, _really_ excites him. See the reason why his face turns to the color of tomatoes every time he looks at the stoic boy.

_'Argg!! I'm not suppose to think of my best friend like this!' _he particularly whined in his head as he buckled his shorts up.

Kyuubi chuckled loudly, _**'You can't fool me Kit! I know how turned on you get! You're loving it!'**_

_'You, shut up!'_ he snapped back as his upper body bent and snatched the gray shirt off the floor with more force than what was necessary.

Sasuke turned slightly around to glance at Naruto when he heard a heavy yet angry huff from the blond. His eyes unconsciously stayed on the tan toned back, watching the muscles located there move as he lifted his arms and roughly pulled the shirt over his head. It took him a few long moments to realize what he was doing and once he did, he snapped his head back forward and away from the arousing sight behind him. _'Damn, I need to stop doing this.'_ he reprimanded himself, a faint blush dusting his pale cheeks.

He lifted the black t-shirt that's been hanging--all this time--loosely in his hand and pulled the shirt over his head. The shirt and the blue jeans he was wearing were a little big but it's better than that hospital gown that showed off his backside. Oh yeah, anything was better than that.

He lowered himself to the floor and sat down on the hard surface. Then used his hand to bring the white tennis shoes to him and proceeded to put them on. He really didn't know what to think of everything that's happening. A part of him still couldn't believe that they were where they were currently at. Which wasn't really explained at all from the older Sakura.....

_

* * *

_

The three chuunin's continued to stare at the older version of Sakura standing before them. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Who would! It's not like it was everyday you see an older version of yourself or your teammate right in front of you. Her eyes stared back at them with a large amount of amusement showing in their depths and a small smirk on her features.

_Her attire consisted of a sleeveless deep maroon belly shirt that had silver and black buckles and straps here and there, a deep maroon skirt--the right side of the skirt fell to mid-thigh with a slit on the side while the left side had a overlapping piece of material that fell just about her ankle. A loose black strap hung loosely from the slit on the right side of the skirt while four other black straps--two in the front and two in the back--that were attached to the overlapping material were buckled to it, keeping the material from billowing in the wind too much. Other silver and black buckles and straps were also attached in various places along the skirt. _

_Knee high black boots adorned her feet while black fingerless gloves ran up her arms, stopping just below her Anbu tattoo on her left arm. Two weapons pouches were tied to her right leg and another two pouches were attached to a strap around her waist. Her pink hair was tightly twisted into a bun at the back of her head with her hitai-ate tied around her left forearm just before Anbu tattoo. _

_Sasuke was the first to break out of his shock and immediately his mind came up with that this was a genjutsu. He put his hands together and gathered his chakra. Once he thought enough was gathered, he released it and yelled, "Kai!" _

_Older Sakura's eyebrows and the sides of her mouth rose with amusement. And when Sasuke realized that nothing happened to the surroundings or anything, she asked, "Are you done yet?" her voice holding fake exasperation. "This isn't a genjutsu or any type of illusion."_

"_Then where are we? And how the hell can you be standing there?" Sasuke sneered at the older kunoichi. _

_But the tone and the glare she was receiving didn't bother her one bit. She was more afraid of the mature version of the young boy. Now that glare can make any shinobi tremble in fear. "You are currently located in the lower levels of Konoha hospital. We don't know how you arrived to be in this particular place and time. But we found you three in the forest to the north of here with the five children of one of our respectable Anbu Captains." she said with her business mask in place. _

"_Do you mean Raiden, Chidori-chan, Kaze-chan, Sora-chan and Umi-chan?" Naruto asked nervously, knowing that they could be in some serious trouble if these people thought they had something to do with their disappearances. 'Oh boy, that would be a problem....'_

_After he received a curt nod from the older woman, he burst while flailing his arms, "We had nothing to do with their disappearances, I swear! We found them in the forest unconscious and--" _

"_We know you had nothing to do with it." she cut the blond off. "Raiden-kun and Chi-chan already told us what happened." _

_Naruto let out a breath of relief as younger Sakura stuttered, "T-Then w-w-why d-did you l-lock us in h-here?" her hands twisting the fabric of her hospital gown. _

"_A precaution." began the older Sakura as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We had to make sure you three were exactly who you appear to be. And the test shows that you are. So, I'm sorry that we had to go to such extremes but those children are highly important to many high ranking shinobi that will surely kill anyone who tried to harm them." 'Not to mention a father, who would kill those who stupidly threaten his children before those other shinobi could even get their little paws on them.' she continued silently._

"_Do you k-know how to send us back?" younger Sakura asked, her nervousness slowly fading. _

_The older Sakura looked down at the floor for a moment before she looked back up and answered, "Personally I nor anyone who knows of this, knows if you three came from the our past or an alternate dimension. Or how Raiden-kun and the others even got to your 'home' or how they and you three came here. So....." she trailed off as she set her vision back to the floor._

"_So, you have absolutely no idea how to send us back." Sasuke stated with a surprisingly amount of calmness but she knew that under that calm exterior there was a completely pissed off Uchiha. _

"_Exactly." older Sakura curtly responded. _

_Sasuke's features quickly changed and scowled at the older Sakura while the younger one let her face fall in her hands as she let out a small whimper. Naruto on the other hand wasn't looking too upset. He didn't know why the other two were so upset in the first place. To him, he was excited to find out what became of everyone. And if he could get out this place and get some ramen, then he'll be completely fine with this new world._

_The door that led into the agonizing white room suddenly swung open and banged loudly when it hit the wall behind it. Raiden came rushing in, not at all bothered with how much noise he just managed to do within the first ten seconds of entering. He wore a navy shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back, black jeans with the Uchiha symbol embroidered on the two pants pockets and black and white tennis shoes. _

"_Hey guys!" he greeted cheerfully with a hand wave. Chidori entered the room right behind Raiden with her hair braided down her back. Wearing a dark purple sleeveless shirt, a black jean skirt with shorts underneath and the Uchiha symbol embroidered on the two back pockets and simple flips on her feet. She smiled at them and greeted them with, "Hey! I hope Aunt Sakura has been nice to you!" _

_Naruto smiled brightly at the two, relieved that he could see with his own eyes that at least two were alright. Which to him meant they were all fine. "Hey Raiden, Chidori-chan!" he greeted loudly as he walked towards the two, completely disregarding the older Sakura._

"_Heh, look at you! Now you're the one that's wearing the hospital gown from hell! Careful though, it attracts bugs!" said Raiden in his sarcastic voice, warily looking around for said bugs. Naruto laughed at the other antics. "Dumb ass, you do know those 'bugs' were in your head! Right?" _

_Raiden placed his hand on his chest and showed the blond a mock hurt expression. "That hurts Naruto." he whined out as he wiped a invisible tear from his pale cheek. Chidori whacked her brother on his head, which resulted in her receiving a glare from him and her sending one back to him. _

_All the while, Sasuke's narrowed eyes were glued on the symbol of his clan on Raiden's jeans. Obviously he wasn't the only one that noticed because the younger Sakura asked, "Raiden-kun, you're an Uchiha?" _

_This question caught his attention from glaring at his younger sister. "Oh yeah, guess I never mentioned that, did I?" he answered offhandedly. _

_Sakura remained stunned for a good few seconds before she was going to say something else but before anything could be said, the older Sakura interrupted, "I'm sorry to get in the middle of.....if you must call it, a conversation but we have other more important things to discuss. Like where you three will be staying."_

"_Which would be with us!" chimed in Raiden with his hand punching up into the air excitedly._

_The older Sakura let out an exaggerated sigh, "Raiden-kun...."_

"_What!" exclaimed the oldest blond, "I was only trying to help.....jeez...."_

"_Yes, as Raiden-kun said, you will be staying with one of our highest ranking Anbu Captains....." Then she causally pointed to Raiden and Chidori. "Their father."_

_Naruto's body stiffened with these words, because if Kyuubi was right--which he has been so far--then they would be staying with the older version of Sasuke. 'Oh god.....' _

"_Speaking of which, where is your father?" she asked as she turned her attention to the younger Uchiha's. _

"_Talking to the secret sadist." Raiden said without thinking, which received a strange look from Chidori. _

_The older Sakura raised an eyebrow at that, silently asking of who he meant. "Oh....ummm.....I mean Tsunade-baa-chan.....hahaha" he chuckled nervously, hoping his little slip-up would go unnoticed. Or at least pretended to go unnoticed. _

_She nodded her head slowly, "Okay.....At least that explains that faint killing intent." she murmured to herself. She brightened up, dropping her business mask and saying, "Why don't we get you three out of here and get you some actual clothes!" _

_'Before you have to face him and possible death.....' _

* * *

Sasuke was still positioned on the floor, his shoes already on and tied. His arms were leaning on his bent legs as his stared at the wall in front of him, thinking back to his most improbable theory. And since one of two of his downfalls for this theory to fit perfectly with the situation has been just crossed off the list. Because look at him now, something that was suppose to be completely impossible is now being throw in his face and rubbed roughly against his flesh.

So, how can he say that his other completely impossible downfall can't happen. But then that would be completely against nature, wouldn't it? Though isn't time travel or dimension jumping or whatever against nature too? It just shouldn't happen. But that's not stopping all his downfalls from proving him wrong.

One down, one downfall to go.

"What the hell are you doing, teme!" he heard the blond yell behind him. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto over his shoulder just in time for the blond to yell again. "Are you done or not?!" A adorable scowl and a deep blush on his tan features that had his gaze caught. _'I wonder what it would be like to have kids with that idiot?' _he vaguely thought before he mentally shook it out of his head. _'Who knows....' _

"Yeah dobe, I'm done." he said as he gracefully rose from the floor, dusting off invisible dirt from his clothes.

"Don't call me that teme!" Naruto shouted usually retort at the raven while blatantly pointing his finger at him. Trying and failing to think of something, ANYTHING, that doesn't involve the boy in front of him. Damn, how hard can that be......?

A knock came from the other side of the door to the office they were in, then older Sakura's voice could be heard asking, "Are you two done yet?!"

Neither of the two answered, both were in an intent battle of staring at each other. Another knock came from older Sakura and, "Hey, are you two alright?!" but they ignored it as they continued to stare. Onyx and sapphire silently fighting to show who could last the longest. Well, that's how it started......now they were searching in each other depths. Neither of them knowing why or what they were searching for but they couldn't pull away.

Not until older Sakura decided that it was best to destroy the locked door to the office to mere pieces. That startled the crap out of both Naruto and Sasuke to say the least. Sasuke turned his eyes slowly to the doorway while Naruto gaped at the broken pieces on the floor.

Older Sakura walked through the now open doorway, crunching some of the wood underneath her feet, and stopped dead in her tracks. Her sea-green eyes snapping back and forth between the raven and blond with a nasty scowl on her delicate features. "When I ask you if you're alright, I expect a response. It is now our job to keep the three of you safe from harm. And when you don't say anything when we ask something, we will automatically expect the worst. Especially when you're within a locked room. Now the next time a situation similar to this happens, you will say something. I don't care what it is. Do I make myself clear?"

They both nodded their heads numbly. _'Shit, she's gotten stronger.'_ they both thought simultaneously.

Younger Sakura hesitantly stuck her head around the corner and gazed inside the room. Her eyes not yet returning to there normal size as she looked upon the damage down to the door and frame.

"Good. Now follow me. I believe the Anbu Captain is most likely still arguing with Tsunade-shishou." older Sakura ordered while she turned and exited the office.

The two younger males of Team Seven followed her and when they met up with the younger Sakura at the door, Naruto gave her a look of _what the hell was that_? She shrugged her shoulders and walked in step with the two on the right side of Sasuke.

All three of them were silent as they followed the older Sakura down several halls and up a couple of floors. They just turned around a corner and they're eyes immediately landed on the people further down the hall. Raiden was standing next to a man with black hair, who had his back to them and--from their distance--it appeared that he was arguing with someone in front of him.

When they got closer to the three people, the man with black hair sneered in a familiar voice, "There are other shinobi who would be more than willing to look after those three. Unfortunately for you, I'm not one of them."

"Don't you dare take that tone with me Uchiha!" yelled Tsunade in front of him. "You are going to look after them if you like or not! So you might want to used to the idea! You are the best shinobi we have for this. Just think of it as a mission, because that is what it is--a mission to protect them from getting killed. Because for all we know their deaths could affect or possible destroy this time." she paused for a moment before she began again offhandedly. "And besides, the people who tried to assassinate your children could be after them too. So this kills two birds with one stone."

The man remained silent, his jaw was clenching and unclenching. Raiden warily looked up at his father when no reply came. "Tou-san...." his voice holding a silently plea for his father to stop being so stubborn.

Said man glared down at his eldest son, causing Raiden to look anywhere but up into those furious onyx orbs. He eyes moved from the wall on the other side of his father, then to the roof above and then down the hall to his left. A grin spread across his face when he saw his Aunt and the younger versions of Team Seven approaching. He lifted his arm in the air and waved enthusiastically at the small group. "Hey! What took you guys so long?!" his loud voice resounding in the hall.

He noticed that his father's body visibly stiffened at the prospect of seeing _him_. But he ignored it and began taking steps toward them. "All you had to do was take off that _thing_ and then put on some actually clothes! How long can that take?!"

"It's teme's fault!" Naruto yelled back down the hall at Raiden as his hand pointed at the younger raven. Who rolled his eyes at the blond's childish antics but he was far more interested in the man with his back still facing them.

Tsunade moved around the still like stone Uchiha, her eyes instinctively finding Naruto on their own. "Brat!" she said automatically without really thinking about it.

"Baa-chan!" he exclaimed when he saw her still alive. A mischievous grin forming as he said, "That genjutsu of yours must still be working wonders!"

Snickers erupted from the older Sakura and Raiden at this but Tsunade on the other hand, twitched in annoyance. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." she said in a sickly sweet voice as she stepped forward and grabbed Naruto in a crushing hug. Which caused the blond to cough from the rush of air leaving his body. _'I think she's trying to kill me....' _he thought before he tried to speak to get her to relinquish from her grip. "B-Baa-chan......I......c-can't......b-b-breath........" he somehow got out through the bone crushing hug.

She heard his plea and gave one last squeeze before letting the boy go. Once he was released he gasped for lost air._** 'Damn she still has a good grip.' **_Kyuubi stated in his mind. Naruto mentally agreed with the fox. For being however old she was, her grip was still spectacular.

"Sorry brat." she half-heartedly apologized as she ruffled his blond hair. A few tears brimming her eyes as she looked fondly down at the boy. "Why don't you three meet your guard throughout your time of your stay here." she said, hoping to steer the situation to something more enjoyable. Like torturing a certain Uchiha. She hasn't been able to do that lately without feeling guilty. Her voice held a little more excitement than normal and a strange glint was present in her chocolate brown eyes. She turned her body to the side and glanced at the male still with his back toward the group.

All eyes were on the back of the older male, who was trying his best not to snap at everyone behind him. He inhaled slowly and held for a couple of seconds then exhaled just as slowly, attempting to calm his raging emotions. The man dramatically turned around slowly, his eyes set in a glare as his onyx color kept flashing to the red of his sharingan.

A squeal resounded throughout the long hallway from the younger Sakura at seeing that the man before them was actually non other than the older version of Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade, older Sakura and Raiden recoiled from the shrillness of the squeal while Naruto and the younger Sasuke were to shocked that they only flinched.

Older Sakura rubbed her right ear--the one that was closest to her younger self--and thought dejectedly, _'I forgot how bad I was with anything that involved Sasuke-kun.' _

Naruto stared at the older version of Sasuke wide eyed and open mouthed. _'Holy shit....' _he thought within a daze as his sapphire eyes gazed from the top of the older male to his feet. He was clad in a Anbu uniform with his weapons pouches tied on his legs and the hitai-ate of Konoha tied around his forehead. You could tell, even with those clothes on, that he was fell toned and muscled in all the right places. If Naruto was any lesser of a human being, he would be drooling right about now.

_**'Is it me Kit, or did that Uchiha brat get sexier as he got older?' **_Kyuubi asked, also in disbelieve. But unlike Naruto, he was drooling at the sight before them. The blond didn't mentally answer the fox , instead he dumbly nodded his head.

The younger Sasuke gave the man before him a once over. It felt kind of odd to looked at someone that was exactly you but only older. To know that he could possibly one day be him in the future. And personally what he saw, he liked. Conceitedly enough, he still looked hot and the posture and body language of the man screamed that behind the stoic mask, held a dangerous and powerful man.

"Now remember Uchiha...." Tsunade began to lecture him like a child. "....you are to keep them alive. That means, no killing them yourself."

He huffed indignantly, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat from just one glance at the younger blond. "I didn't want to look after _them_ to begin with." he sneered at the older woman as his eyes dangerously flashed red. But it didn't deter her in the least, she merely flashed him with a sweet but false smile of hers that had him growling deep in his throat. He abruptly turned to his left and began stalking to one of the doors located on that side of the hall.

"Now Sasuke-kun, try to have a better spirit about all this." the older Sakura chimed in only for her to regret it when Sasuke stopped in his steps and turned around slowly to direct his glare at her. She audibly gulped at the intensity of it and hastily looked away as she said, "Look at the time, I believe I need to be getting home." She waved at everyone else located in the hall. "Bye guys, I'll probably be seeing you all tomorrow!"

After she said her general goodbye, she began walking down the hall to go home and hopefully to take a soothing bath with her husband. But before she got too far, the younger Sakura shouted, "Wait! Aren't you going home with Sasuke-kun?!" This caused the younger Sasuke to roll his eyes and the other Sakura to burst out laughing at the implication. Her steps didn't stop but they did falter from her fierce laughing. "That's...a......good......one......" she said loud enough through her fits of laughter for the others to hear.

She might of wished that she would one day be Sasuke's wife when she was younger but now it was ludicrous. Now she couldn't imagine being with Sasuke like that, it was too weird. Besides she was happy with her life right now. Even if one person was missing to make it even brighter.....

The younger Sakura stared dejectedly at the her older self continuing down the hall and disappearing around a corner. _'I'm not Sasuke-kun's wife.....?'_ she thought as her heart broke.

Naruto elbowed the younger Sasuke in his arm and leaned in slightly to whisper, "I think your glare improved." making sure to keep his eyes on Sakura, to make sure she wouldn't hear him. He didn't really want to deal with her wrath right now. Especially when she just found out that she's not gonna end up with her precious Sasuke-kun. That would be suicide.

Younger Sasuke turned his attention to the blond and glared. Naruto looked carefully at the glare, mentally comparing the two. "Oh yeah, definitely improved." he declared after a long moment of intently staring at Sasuke's onyx orbs. Which had the raven holding his breath the entire time as he too stared deeply into the other's sapphires. He mentally cursed when the blond moved stomach nervously flipping when he didn't move his eyes away from Naruto. _'What are you doing to me?' _he silently asked the blond.

Meanwhile, the older Sasuke gripped the doorknob to one of the doors lining the hallway with more force than what was needed and opened the door. The deadly glare that's been showing on his features subconsciously lifted, his eyes softening when they landed on his four other children within the room. Chidori was sitting on a bench with Sora and Kaze sitting on her right side and Umi laying on her left with her head on her lap. Popochi was clutched to her small chest as she slept soundly.

He was so relieved when he heard that his children were alright and safe. _Unconscious_ but otherwise fine. He didn't know what he would do if anything happen to them. They were the only things he had left. The only things that kept him going on living. He couldn't lose them.....

Chidori's head lifted when she heard the door open and saw her father step into the room. "Are you done, Tou-san?" she asked softly, so she wouldn't wake her younger sister. Before he could answer, Sora jumped off the bench and ran over to her father, clutching desperately to his leg like he would disappear if she didn't. "Can we go home, daddy?" she asked in a whiny manner.

He placed his hand on the top of her head and rubbed his thumb affectionately across her raven hair. "Yes, we can go home now." his normally monotone voice holding a gentleness that only appeared when he was speaking to his children. He made an attempt to get closer to the bench so he could carry his youngest but the hold that his daughter had on his leg prevented him from doing so.

"Sora...." His tone silently saying that he wasn't going to say it twice. She reluctantly loosened her grip but instead of letting go completely, she moved along with him. Which he didn't mind one bit, as long as he could move.

Once he reached his other three children on the bench, he bent down and gently picked up his sleeping daughter into his arms. She stirred when she was moved, dropping her stuffed fox the floor. "Daddy.....?" her voice groggy and her eyes only opening the slightest bit, wanting to make sure that it was her father that was picking her up. "Yeah honey, go back to sleep." he reassured his youngest and when her head laid upon his left shoulder, she did just that. With her right arm snaked around his neck and her other was hanging limply.

Chidori rose from her sitting position and stretched her stiff body. A few popping noises of her bones making her cringe slightly. Kaze silently slipped off the bench and went over to the fallen Popochi, bending down and picking the stuff animal up. He dusted off some dirt that got on the fox from the meeting with the floor before he walked over to his father's leg that wasn't currently occupied with his twin sister and gripped the fabric of his pants in his small hand. Reassuring himself that his father was still here.

After Sasuke made sure his children were ready to leave, he made his way to the slightly a jarred door. Using his hand that wasn't holding most of his daughter's weight to open it the rest of the way. He exited the room and entered the hall once again with the twins on each leg and Chidori taking up the rear. She closed the door behind her once she was out of the room.

Naruto would of awed at the sight if he didn't have two Sasuke's that would probably kill him after the first two seconds of doing it. So he just opted out for a large grin instead. They can't kill him for that, could they? And even if they did, he couldn't help but to grin. It was so sweet. It just showed that even if Sasuke's heart was buried underneath all that revenge and a very thick layer of ice right now, that in the future all that will somehow disappear and he will have this. The beautiful sight before him.

The younger Sasuke just stared blankly at the small family before him. A small hope igniting within him that one day he will have a family of his own. That one day he won't be lonely anymore. To find someone that he would fall in love enough with that he would have children with them. It was secret dream of his. He didn't want to restore his clan with someone he didn't love. It might actually be foolish of him to think this way. But he didn't want to have kids and them to be raised by parents who didn't give a damn about each other. It wasn't something he wanted or was ever planning on doing.

"She fell asleep, huh?" Tsunade asked in a whisper as she gazed lovingly at the small girl within Sasuke's arms.

He, "Hmn" before turning his once soft gaze now turned glare at the younger Team Seven. "Follow me." he ordered them coldly, then turned and began walking down the hall. Sora farewelled softly to Tsunade with, "Bye bye Baa-chan...." and Kaze lifted his hand that was gripped on his father's pants and waved bye at the older woman.

The latter said, "See ya later, brats!"

Team Seven hesitated in following the older raven and Raiden noticed this hesitation. "Hey don't worry....." he started in a cheerful voice. ".....Tou-san's just in a bad mood. He won't actually kill you. I don't think....." he murmured the last sentence mostly to himself. But Naruto heard him anyway and it made him more nervous about following the other Sasuke.

Raiden shook his head at the thought of his father actually killing the three and took a couple of steps to follow him. He noticed the other three not moving and turned around so he could walk backwards. "Come on guys! What are you waiting for?!" he yelled at them with a smirk, a silent sort of challenge to them.

They glanced at each other for a moment before they too followed him, not wanting to appear even a little bit frightened of the older Sasuke. Naruto lifted his hand above his head and waved at Tsunade, who was now behind him. "See ya, Tsunade-baa-chan!"

"Yeah, bye baa-chan!" chimed in Raiden, almost forgetting to give his farewell to the sannin.

"Bye!" yelled Chidori when the four caught up to where she was standing, waiting for them.

Tsunade remained where she was, smiling and staring fondly at the five of them trying to catch up to the eldest Uchiha that already turned around the farthest corner. A tear slid down her cheek as the passed came rushing back to her. _'Ive missed you Naruto.....' _


	8. Shades of Blue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Eight

**Shades of Blue**

The small group walked in awkward silence down a deserted road of Konoha. The lamp posts a lining the sides of said road illuminated the pitch black of the night. It must have been really late, since none of the shops were open and no one but them were walking on the road they were presently on.

To Naruto, it felt kind of eerie. He always held this high image in his head of Konoha, that it was always lively and bustling with people even at this time of night. Though, he never had any proof of this because he was always fast asleep before the streets emptied. But now that he's not asleep and walking around outside at night in Konoha--it just felt weird. Creepy too.

You would think that he would like this side of Konoha, with no one around. Because he knew that if people were out and busing themselves, they would only glare and muttered things under their breaths that were directed at him. But he feels he would rather have the crude remarks than this feeling of Konoha being so empty--so lifeless.

A sigh escaped his slightly parted lips, then he took a quick glance at the younger Sasuke. Who was intently staring at the older version of himself. Even with that quick glance, Naruto could feel his face heat up from it. _'Damn my whole situation.' _he thought as he stared at the ground. After another moment of doing just that, he lifted his gaze to stare at the back of the older raven. Silently wondering if this Sasuke actually loved the older version of himself.

Speaking of which, he hadn't seen his older self yet. But the way the kids have acted toward him, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be seeing himself. Ohh, how his possible future looked so bleak.

Sasuke's been staring at his older self for the past ten minutes, watching every movement he made. Seeing the gentleness he showed as he carried his youngest daughter. Such a gentleness he didn't know he possessed or ever would possess. He, himself, didn't like to show those type of emotions. Or as he would put it, his softness. It was a weakness in his eyes. To have people you loved, it only gave your enemies the perfect targets.

His eyes unconsciously drifted over to Naruto, who staring at the ground with a expression on his features that he couldn't place. He noticed that since they left the hospital that the blond has been strangely quiet. It was a rarity that he willingly kept his mouth shut when there was actual silence. It was then that he realized that he didn't like it. It meant that there was something serious going on that blond head of his. Something that would disrupt his natural cheerfulness.

Raiden's onyx eyes kept moving between his father and the younger Sasuke. He didn't know why he didn't feel like this when they all were standing in the hall of the hospital but now it was just plain strange to see his father and his father's younger self in the same place. And yet, in a strange way, it was fascinating. To see and get to know his father before he became the man he was now. And the one thing he was completely sure of, is that his father was a major jerk when he was younger.

There was no joking. His father can be intimidating most of the time but when he was younger he was just a plain ass. He was someone that he wouldn't hang around without the risk of beating the crap of him time and time again.

And his mother was the same. Though a little more.....what's the word.....ah, flamboyant. Definitely more flamboyant than what he remembered him to be.

He looked around at his surroundings for the first time in seven minutes and, he must have been so into comparing the two Sasuke's that he didn't realize where the hell they were going. "Aaaa.....Tou-san....." he began with uncertainty as he glanced at the various buildings they were passing. ".....ummm.....you do know that our house is that way." he finished with a swing of his arm in the direction he meant. Which resulted in his hand to hit Naruto, who was walking by him, square in his head. Causing the blond chuunin to fall dramatically to the ground below.

Raiden gasped as his eyes widened at what he did, "Oh god Naruto, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were in the range of my hand swinging!" The commotion that Raiden caused, got everyone else to stop in their steps to their unknown destination.

The oldest blond bent down and held out his hand to the fallen one with his hand clutching to his forehead. The latter looked up at Raiden and grinned at him, "You know you have a very hard hand. If I didn't know any better I would of thought that someone hit me in the head with a brick." Raiden chuckled at this which in turn caused Naruto to chuckle with him as he grabbed his hand hoisted himself up from the ground with a little help from Raiden.

Naruto rubbed his abused forehand once he was back on his feet. "Are you sure I didn't cause permanent damage?" Raiden asked curiously, hoping that he didn't swing his hand _that_ hard. But before Naruto could reassure that he was fine, Sasuke opened his mouth. He just couldn't resist this moment. "The damage was already done way before you came along." This statement caused Naruto to bristle in anger and swirl on his heels to scowl at the raven. "Teme! What the fuck did you say?!"

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow at the loud blond. "You know exactly what I said dobe." An inhuman growl escaped from Naruto's throat as he jumped and tackled Sasuke to the ground.

You could particularly see the question mark above Raiden's head at the two wrestling on the ground. Chidori blinked at the scene before she hesitantly glanced up at her father. Who had a death glare directed at the two younger males. He didn't want to deal with this. He didn't want to see these two have something that he knew he could never have again. To see _him_, alive and moving in front of him and knowing that he wasn't _his_. "Enough!" he snapped when he couldn't take the scene anymore.

The deadly tone of his voice caused everyone--except Umi--to flinch and freeze to their spots. Umi squirmed in his arms and then settled back down when he rubbed her back gently, coaxing her back into sleep. He dangerously lowered his voice, "I will_ not_ tolerate this when you two are in my company. So you better shut up and be quiet."

Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position on Sasuke's lap. His legs straddled the stoic boy's waist as he blinked at the harshness of the older male's voice. His hand lifted and settled on the back of his head as he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, sorry...." The familiarity of the gesture and smile stalled the older Sasuke's mind for a moment before he forcibly turned himself around to continue in the direction he was heading.

The younger Sasuke that was still positioned underneath the blond, shifted uncomfortably. His breath becoming heavy as he felt his body beginning to react to Naruto sitting on him. The slight movement caught the blond's attention and he looked down at Sasuke, almost forgetting what and who he was sitting on. His whole face turned a deep red but made no movement to actually get off of him.

Sakura was about to continue following the older Sasuke but she noticed that her two teammates were still on the ground and intently gazing at each other. Her brows furrowed together at the way they were looking at each other--the strange lust that she could see in their depths.

"If you don't mind dobe, can you get off of me." he said, surprising himself that he didn't stutter or anything that would give away that he liked the blond where he was.

Naruto's face, if it was possible, went a deeper shade of red as he scurried off of the raven. The latter using all of his will power to refrain himself from groaning and/or bucking when Naruto moved off his lap.

Sakura's anger bristled, "Naruto-baka! What do you think you're doing to _my_ Sasuke-kun?!" she screech with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing!" retorted the blond fiercely, then went on in a murmur with his head lowered, "Jeez, why would I want to do anything to the teme anyways?" Hoping to hide the blush that he knew covered his entire face as he walked off. _'Damn teme....'_

Sasuke lifted himself off the ground and dusted the dirt off his clothes, inwardly wondering if anyone could see his partly harden member. Willing himself to calm down as he began to walk again with a slight limp. _'Damn dobe....'_

The raven heard a chuckle and a giggle to his right and saw that it came from Raiden and Chidori. Who's been watching the whole scene between the younger versions of their parents. They thought it was kind of cute. He sent the two a glare, which only caused them to laugh again before they began to follow their father. Sasuke scowled to himself as he too followed the small group from the rear.

They were walking for about a minute before Raiden remembered the reason why that commotion before even started to begin with. He looked up at his father's firmly set face. "Tou-san, where are we going anyway?"

"To our old house." he stated flatly without any emotion. Raiden's face fell to a deep frown while his heart did the same when he heard this. "Why are we going there?" The emotion that flowed through his question caused the younger Team Seven to put their full attentions to him.

"Someone decided that it would be interesting to do a fire jutsu in the house."

Raiden guiltily cowered slightly as he walked, "Well, it was either the house or all of us getting killed. So I thought the house was a legitimate loss."

The older Sasuke couldn't help but to smirk at his son and ruffle the boy's hair. Which caused him to whine about messing his hair up and putting some distance from his father. "You're lucky I agree with you or you would have been in some serious trouble."

The eldest blond chuckled nervously as he lifted his hand behind his head. "Yeah, good thing huh?" Then the atmosphere turned back to the solemness as before. "But seriously Tou-san, why are we going there?"

His smirk dropped and he answered with, "Where else do you suppose we stay?" Like his son, their old house was the last place he wanted to be. It held too many memories, good and.....terrible ones. He didn't want to step one foot in that house but he had to think of his children and unfortunately the younger Team Seven. And it was his responsible to make sure they had a roof over their heads.

"Anywhere but _there_! How can _you_ even consider going--" he shut himself up when his father directed a glare toward him. Then lowered his gaze to the ground and grudging asked, "Is the place even clean? I mean, we haven't lived there in two years. You know how much dust has probably accumulated. And I don't even want to think about--" but was silenced when his father moved his hand in front of his mouth. "Raiden....." he all but sighed, "Tsunade-sama has already had several genins teams clean the whole house and fill the cabinets with food."

"The whole house...." repeated Raiden in shock. His hands twisting the hem of his shirt, hoping that his father didn't let anyone in that room. "You let them clean the _whole_ house? Even that......"

"No." he said curtly, "I forbidden her to let anyone within _that_ room." his voice emotionless as he stared aimlessly in front of him.

Raiden nodded wordlessly, knowing that his and his siblings fates were already condemned to reenter that house. Because no matter how hard he thought of a different place they could stay, he just couldn't think of one that could hold all of them. He looked over to Chidori, who was keeping her eyes to the ground. So nobody could see the deep sadness of going to their old house that only reminded her and everyone within her family of what they lost.

All the while, Team Seven kept their attentions glued to the conversation between father and son. All of them wondering what was wrong with this house they were presently heading to. Was it haunted or something?

That thought made a chill run down Naruto's spine. He didn't like the concept of ghosts. There was just something about the idea that unnerved him. But he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with something like that but something that cut deep into their hearts. Someone doesn't want to go to a place like they do, unless something terrible happened in that building.

Sasuke was almost pondering on the same thing, but minus the ghost bit. He just hoped that it isn't what he's thinking. Because so far he hasn't seen his.....he's gonna say wife and the way all the kids and even his older self chose not to say anything about their mother was strange. Which had him thinking that something happened to older Sasuke's wife. And if his possible theory was right, then that would mean that Naruto was possibly dead.

Unexpectedly, his heart clenched at the thought of the blond not being around--of not ever seeing him again. He didn't really realized of how used he was to the blond's presence, until he thought of not having that bright presence around anymore.

He mentally shook his head to move his thoughts away from that path of thinking. He didn't need to think that way. And besides, he could be over thinking this _whole_ situation. He could of picked a woman that had _great_ resemblance to Naruto. His thoughts paused for a moment, wondering if that was extremely creepy to do. To have a wife that you loved and had sex with that looked a hell of lot like your male best friend and _slight_ love interest. Yup, that sounded creepy even in his mind.

A sigh passed his parted lips as his eyes roamed to the building that they were passing and a couple that he recognized made his brows furrow. Because these buildings were only located on one road and that road was the only one that led to the Uchiha compound. Now this had Sasuke confused, _'Why don't they live in the Uchiha compound?' _

The small group arrived at the entrance to the compound. Older Sasuke stared at the entrance blankly as he entered with the others following behind, ignoring the dull pain within his heart at heading to the one place that will permanently haunt him.

After walking a minute, neared their old house, his jaw clenching the closer they got to the glooming looking building. The twins eyes widened when they realized exactly where they were going. Sora looked up at her father, silently wondering why they were going here. _'Was mommy coming home?' _she asked herself, knowing that they left here at the same time that their mother went away. So in her child like mind, she came to the conclusion that if they went back that their mother would return too.

She looked over at her twin brother and saw that he was still staring wide eyed at the house as they began walking up the path to the front door. Then she turned her head and looked at her older brother. He was staring at the house with uncontrolled sorrow in the depths of his onyx. She then looked at her older sister, who was staring at anything other than the house before them. Then back up to her father's firmly set face.

Sora couldn't understand why everyone was so sad. Didn't they want to see mommy again.....?

When older Sasuke reached the front door of the Uchiha residence, he shifted his sleeping daughter so he could use his other hand to dig in his pocket and bring the keys that were within out. He fumbled with the keys for moment, searching to find the right one that would unlock the front door with one hand. Once found, he brought it up to the keyhole and unlocked the door with an audible click.

He stuck the keys back into his pocket slowly, trying to stall for time. But there was only so much time you can stall before the younger ones would start to know that you're trying to stall. So he took a deep shaky breath, gripped the door handle and open it wide. His first step to enter the house was with great hesitation and the next one he all but forced. But when he was fully within the house, he wanted to just turn back around. Because the first thing that hit him was a _strong_ lemon scent that was thick in the air.

"Whoa!!" he heard his eldest son exclaim behind him. Raiden particularly slamming his hand over his nose. "How much lemon scented cleaner did those teams use?!"

Team Seven entered the house two seconds later and almost immediately upon breathing in the strongly lemon scented air, Naruto gagged and dry heaved. "Naruto are you alright?" asked Sakura worriedly her hand clutching her nose tightly shut. He waved his hand dismissively before regaining his composure and plastering both of his hands over his nose, trying to breath out of his mouth. And even that was making him nauseous. Sasuke just made a disgusted face at the smell and thought it wise to breath out of his mouth, all the while watching Naruto react negatively to the smell.

The twins had their hands firmly around their mouths and noses, Kaze coughing from the strength of the smell. Sora tugged on her father's shirt, "Daddy, the smells too much." her voice muffled because of her hand.

"Tou-san" began Chidori with her hands over her nose and mouth. "We need to open the windows to air this place out before we suffocate."

"Hmn. You and Raiden open the ones down here and I'll open the ones upstairs after I put Umi in her bed." Quite surprised that Umi didn't wake up from the mere smell alone. _'Disgusting....'_ he thought as he made his way to the staircase. The twins detached themselves from their father's pants before he reluctantly ascended the stairs.

"Damn, they couldn't have the common sense to at least open a window in here?!" he yelled to no one in particular. He stalked into the living room and began opening window after window that were located in there with the help of Naruto and Sasuke. Chidori opened the windows in the kitchen with the help of Sakura.

When they were done with the windows in the several rooms located downstairs, they gathered in the kitchen. The air becoming lighter as the minutes passed. "So, who wants what? And please try and make it simple." said Raiden as he opened cabinet doors to see what they even had, preparing to make some kind of dinner before they went to bed. As he opened the third cabinet door, his eyes landed on the one thing he was hoping that was stocked in.

Cups of ramen.

"Anyone want ramen?" he asked while his hand grabbed a cup for himself and when Naruto yelled, "Me! Miso please!" he grabbed another one.

Sakura made a face at the prospect of having ramen for dinner. "Isn't there anything else to have besides ramen?"

The older blond blinked at the distaste that was present within her voice. Wondering how anyone wouldn't have some kind of liking to ramen. "Ummm......" then went back to looking within the cabinets. When nothing easy was present within them he went and browsed in the fringe. His eyes immediately found the pre-made trays of onigiri and silently thanked whoever made them. "Onigiri anyone?!" he shouted over his shoulder. As he heard different agreements to this, he grabbed the trays with both hands and brought them to the kitchen table where mostly all the others were located and seated.

All the while, Chidori turned on the stove and grabbed the tea kettle, filled it with water and placed it on the burner for the two helpings of ramen. She turned back around and noticed that her younger sister was glancing around, looking like she was expecting someone to walk into the kitchen at any minute. "Sora.....what are you doing?" she asked curiously.

Sora turned her attention to her sister, "Waiting for mommy." she said innocently, like it was the obviously thing.

This caused the whole kitchen to become silent and Raiden, who was putting down the last tray of onigiri, to drop it the rest of the way with a loud noise and whip his head in Sora's direction. Chidori froze to her spot, stuttering out, "S-S-Sora, w-why would y-y-you s-say that?"

The younger girl gazed up at her sister with confusion in her sapphire depths and tilted her head to the side. "Isn't mommy coming back?"

Chidori's eyes were now brimming with unshed tears while her arms trembled. Her mind already figuring it out at to why her younger sister said that. When Sora didn't get an answer to her question, her own eyes began to tear up. Her hopes already high at seeing her mother after so long but now they were slowly shattering. "Isn't mommy coming back?!" she yelled desperately.

"Sora stop it! Kaa-san's never coming back!" he yelled at the small girl and almost instantly regretted it as the tears that gathered in her tears began to cascade down her pale cheeks. And when her small voice squeak out, "Never?" his and Chidori's hearts crumbled.

Raiden rushed to his sister as her body crumbled to the tile floor in a pile of broken sobs. "Sora, I'm sorry." he apologized as he tried to sooth the sobbing child.

Kaze slid off his chair at the table and walked over to his twin sister, bent down and rubbed her arm soothingly to hopefully calm her down before their father returned downstairs. He always noticed when he was around his father that every time that their mother was brought up, that the feel around him would always darken into a cold sadness. He knew that the subject upsets him and didn't want to upset his father unnecessarily. So he wanted to calm his sister, so his father wouldn't be sad.

"Do you think that their mother is dead or just left?" asked Sakura to her two teammates in a whisper so hopefully the others couldn't hear. Naruto snapped his head toward Sakura, "Why would their mother leave?" he asked shortly, praying that he would never leave his children for any reasons.

"Well, there could be many reasons." began Sakura, effectively catching Sasuke's attention away from the heart wrenching scene before them. "One, she could of found someone else that she wanted. Which I personally wouldn't do. Sasuke-kun is just too perfect for anyone else to even match up. Two, she couldn't take the stress of being a mother of five children and ran off to get away from it all. Or three, Sasuke-kun was cheating on her with someone more worth wild and she found out and then left him. Leaving the children with him to raise."

With the part of Sasuke cheating had him glaring at the pink haired kunoichi. Knowing full well, that she meant that he was cheating with her. If he ever, actually more like _when_ he gets a wife, he would never cheat on that person. He took commitment quite seriously. He glanced over at Naruto, who had turned a few shades paler at what was said and that reaction almost made him believe that the blond knew that he could possibly be the mother of these children--his spouse.....

Naruto turned his head and looked at Sasuke desperately. "Nee teme, you don't think their mother did any of those these, do you?" unique distress showing in the blond's voice. Sasuke scoffed, inwardly wishing that Sakura could--for once--keep her mouth shut. "No dobe, I don't. She just talks too much."

The blond let out a sigh of relief as Sakura huffed indignantly. "It's just possibilities, Sasuke-kun."

"What's going on here?" came a deep voice from the entrance to the kitchen. All heads within the room turning in that direction to see the older Sasuke looking down at his daughter crying on the floor. He approach his daughter and bent down, lacing his arms around her and lifting her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in the junction of his shoulder. "Raiden." he said sternly, silently asking him to answer the question.

He hesitated a moment before fumbling with his words. "W-Well.....she ummm......."

"M-Mommy's not c-c-coming h-home." she managed to say through her crying, cutting Raiden off. Who lowered his vision down to the floor, not wanting to see his father pull into himself than he already was.

Younger Sasuke closely watched the older Sasuke's features. Watching as his expression turned more blank and his eyes going distance when the young girl mentioned their mother. Older Sasuke didn't say anything as he stood back up straight and went to the table with Kaze by his side. He sat down in one of the empty kitchen chairs while positioning Sora, so she could sit comfortably on his lap. Kaze moved on to sit in the seat he had previously sat in, which was located two chairs down from his father.

A loud whizzing noise suddenly resounded through the kitchen, making Chidori jump in surprise and remember about the boiling water. She wiped the tear stains from her cheeks, the unshed tears falling when her sister broke down, and hurried over to the stove. Pulling the kettle off the burner and placing it on the counter.

Raiden rose from the floor with a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair as he took the few steps to the other counter that had the ramen cups on top. He grabbed them, open both, then brought them to Chidori. Once they were place on the counter, she lifted the kettle and carefully poured the right amount of the scowling water into each ramen cup. She placed the kettle back down on the counter as Raiden gripped the cups and slowly--so he wouldn't drop them--walked back to the kitchen table with Chidori right behind him.

When he reached the table, thankfully without dropping his and Naruto's dinner, he settled them on the surface and scooted one to Naruto. Who grinned widely and said, "Thanks! You know I could of help! I'm particularly an expert at making this!"

Sakura nodded her head in agreement with an onigiri in her hand. "He eats that stuff everyday, three times a day. I can't see how he's even still alive with how much he consumes of it." when she was finished, she took a bite of her onigiri.

Naruto playfully glared at his female teammate but Raiden actually glared at her, hearing the accusations she said about his mother. Naruto waved his chopsticks at Sakura, "Mou Sakura-chan, you're so mean to my favorite food. Ramen is the best!" he exclaimed as he punched the air with his fist.

"Idiot, be quiet. You're too loud." said Sasuke in a scolding tone. Naruto scowled at the raven as he growled out, "Teme."

Raiden glanced at his younger two glaring parents and knew that a contest of who could glare the longest was underway. So, he decided that a change of subject was in order. "Anyway Tou-san, where are they going to sleep?" he asked as he tapped the end of his chopsticks on the table, sort of waiting patiently for the three minutes that it took for the ramen to be done.

Older Sasuke didn't even bat an eyelash before answering, "Sakura is going to stay in Chi's room and the other two are staying in your's. Futons have already been put in your rooms, so you don't have to worry about that. And the closets and drawers are filled with clothes that should fit." He looked down at his sniffing daughter still with her head buried in his shoulder. His hand gently rubbing her back, making sure his voice was soft as he said to her, "Sora, you need to eat something before bed."

She shook her vigorously against his shoulder. "I w-want m-m-mommy....." Older Sasuke's frown deepened at the his daughter's request. His eyes stared blankly at the edge of the table and said flatly, "Mommy isn't here."

"D-Doesn't mommy w-w-want to s-see us a-again? Doesn't m-mommy not l-l-love u-us anym-more?"

Long moments passed by before older Sasuke got his voice back to assure his daughter with. "Mommy loves all of you very much but mommy just.....mommy just can't be here. No matter how much he might want to....." murmuring the last part lowly. Then quickly, he picked up his daughter before she could say something else that would involve him talking about his wife and turned her around, so she was not sitting on his lap facing the table. Her eyes red rimmed and puffy from crying.

He leaned forward and stretched his arm out to one of the onigiri trays. He picked one up and brought it to Sora's closed mouth. "Now come on Sora, you need to eat." he prodded as he kept the onigiri in place. She opened her mouth slowly and took a tentative bite of the onigiri. As she chewed, she cocked her head up and looked at her father with her sapphire orbs. He pushed her raven bangs from her forehead and gently kissed her head. "That's my girl."

She turned back to her onigiri and took another bite, then another one after that. And so dinner continued in awkward but tense silence. The only sounds being made were the slurping of ramen from Naruto and Raiden. Everyone else--minus older Sasuke--were either eating or nibbling soundlessly on an onigiri. Nobody dared to say anything, especially when they knew that older Sasuke was not in a very good mood.

But Raiden could only stay quiet, when other people were around, for so long. "Aren't you going to eat Tou-san?" The only response he got from his father was a barely noticeable shake of his head. _'Well, what was I expecting?'_ he asked himself sarcastically. Knowing that he should be used to his father's _very_ limited responses after two years of receiving them.

"Nee, Tou-san....." Chidori began as she continued to nibble on her onigiri absentmindedly. And only went on when her father gave his usual, "Hmn." showing that he was listening. "What are they going to do with our other house?"

"Tear it down and rebuild it." Saying this caused all his children to turn their attentions to him. "They haven't torn it down yet, have they?" asked Raiden loudly, "There could be stuff that didn't get completely burnt and that's it's still savable. And, and, and....." and he was about to go on about this and that but he saw his father's expression that silently expected him to basically, shut up. And that's what he did.

Once his son stopped rambling, he said, "No they haven't torn it down, yet. That's why we're going there tomorrow to see if anything is salvageable."

Chidori breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that they got a chance to see if anything was spared from the fire. The only things she was worried about were the family pictures. Their other house had all the pictures of their mother, either in photo albums or in boxes, in its now burnt walls. She was just praying that at least a few survived. He didn't want to forget her mother, no matter the cost, she didn't want to forget.

After another couple of minutes, older Sasuke glanced around the table to see if everyone was done with their dinner before saying, "All right everyone it's time for bed. Chi and Raiden will show you three where you'll be sleeping. So follow them." He stood from his chair while also lifting Sora and placing her on her feet on the floor. "Sora, Kaze do you remember where your old room is?"

Sora's face scrunched up in a look of concentration, trying to remember if she remembered. But Kaze jumped off his chair and chimed in softly, "I know."

"Then why don't you show your sister and get ready for bed. I'll be up in a minute." They both nodded and Kaze grabbed his sister's hand and lead her off toward the staircase.

Older Sasuke looked back over at the table and saw the five oldest kids cleaning up the mess. "What are you still doing in here? I said bed." he said sternly, wanting to get the younger Team Seven out of his sight sooner than later. And if that involved getting his own kids out of his sight, then so be it.

"Uh....we're helping with the clean up." said Chidori, her hands holding an empty onigiri tray with dirty napkins on it.

"No, I'll do it." he stated and when he saw his oldest daughter about to argue, he order in a tone that held absolutely no room for argument. "Go."

Raiden chuckled nervously, "Yeah, we'll show you guys to our old rooms, right Chi?" he asked to his crestfallen sister. Who nodded her head while she placed the tray back on the surface of the table. She smiled reassuredly to her brother before turning her attention to the others. "Follow us."

Team Seven glanced at each other, then Naruto just shrugged and followed while asking a stupid question, "Are we sleeping on the floor?" Younger Sasuke groaned at the question and followed the obviously blond dobe out of the kitchen with Sakura closely behind him. Her voice screeching right in his ear, "Naruto-baka, where else would we be sleeping?!"

Raiden took up the rear and when he was about to exit the kitchen he took a quick glance back at his father, who sat back down in one of the kitchen chairs with his elbows positioned on the table and his head lying in both of his hands. The blond knew that his father was hurting inside at the younger version of Naruto being flaunted in front of him. Though he didn't fully understand to how deep this pain went, he just knew that there was pain.

Because the connection that his parents had, he could tell that it ran deep. Deeper than normal relationships. He knew this because he watched other parents of his friends to compare. And what he found out was that his parents relied on each other for their true happiness. That if they lost the other, their happiness would decrease dramatically. So, even if his father didn't physically show the pain he was feeling _at all_, he could see it in _very_ small glimpses in his father's eyes when they accidentally landed on Naruto. Because he never intentionally looked at the other blond. But in those small glimpses he truly saw how bad off his father really was.....

Naruto eyes landed on the on couch where a pile of linens were laid. "Hey Chidori-chan, who's sleeping on the couch?"

"Tou-san." she answered simply.

"Oh.....why does he sleep on the couch? Doesn't he have a room too?" he couldn't help but to ask questions. And since they were away from the older Sasuke, who gave off an aura that screamed not to talk whats so ever, he deemed it safe to ask all he wanted. But he didn't expect her to stiffen at, what he thought, was an innocent question. "Ummm...."

"He does." came Raiden's answer from behind. "It's just, that no ones entered that room since we left." At this moment, not caring what the past found out about their futures.

And of course, Naruto had to asked, "Why?" as he approached the stairs and began ascending them. His curiosity, he knew, was going to get him in trouble one day. And these next few days, possibly weeks or months, he suspected that day would probably be coming soon.

Without any hesitation, he answered with no emotion present in his voice, "That's where Kaa-san was killed."

Oh look, that day came quicker than he thought......


	9. Never Gone

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Nine

**Never Gone**

Without any emotion, Raiden said, "That's where Kaa-san was killed."

Sasuke's body froze in mid-step when his ears heard this. His head quickly turning toward the older blond while his pulse quickened. "Killed. Here?" he asked in a low voice, not wanting to believe that someone he will one day love would be killed in the same house that witnessed his parents deaths. Even if Sasuke didn't _exactly_ know who his possible future wife was and wasn't in love with this person _yet_, his heart still clutched tightly with just the knowledge that he would unnaturally lose another person he'll care about.

"Nii-san! You shouldn't be saying this!" Chidori desperately reprimanded her older brother with a stern tone. Wishing for him not to continue on with this subject.

But the latter ignored it and continued up the stairs as he said over his shoulder, "Yeah. Kaa-san was found in their bedroom." Then he turned his head to Sakura, who was now behind him and sneered, "So that should answer your disgusting accusations about my Kaa-san." His eyes showing the infamous Uchiha glare that sent a shiver down the pink haired kunoichi's spine. But at least, Sakura had the decency to look regretful as she lowered her gaze to the steps she was climbing.

Naruto silently ascended the stairs slowly, trailing slightly behind the others. He knew that there was a possibility that his possible future self was no longer in the world of the living. But there was a big difference from speculating the thought and actually knowing it. He guessed the upside to this morbid knowledge, is that he now knows that his future in not just bleak but also pitch black--pitch black of complete deadness.....

The small group reached the second floor with Raiden and Chidori in the lead as they began to walked down the hallway laid out in front of them. Their footsteps echoing off the walls of the dreary hall. As they turned a corner in the large house, Sasuke's jaw clenched as his vision landed on the familiar crime tape across a door down the hall they were currently heading down.

Chidori abruptly stopped in her steps in front of a closed door, causing Raiden and the younger Team Seven behind her to stop also. She kept her eyes firmly on the floor and away from the sight of the door up ahead as she said softly, "My room's here, Sakura-san." indicating the door to her left. She gripped the handle as she turned to Sakura, smiling slightly, "Come on, we better get some sleep before tomorrow. Night Nii-san." Then entered her room without making sure that Sakura was following.

"Night...." Raiden responded lowly, his voice not even loud enough for her to hear. He then addressed the two that would sleep in his room. "My room's at the end of the hall." he informed them before continuing on his way.

Sakura hesitated a moment as she looked at her teammates warily, inwardly wanting to stay with them and not be left alone in an--technically--unknown place. Sasuke stood still for two seconds before following the older blond. Wanting to find out more about his future wife and since Sakura wouldn't be around, he could ask the one question he wanted to clear up. And he didn't care if Naruto was around or not, he had a feeling that the blond already knew the answer to it anyway.

Naruto gave Sakura a reassuring smile, sensing her uneasiness and patted her shoulder. "Night Sakura-chan!" he said as he removed his hand from her and proceeded to catch up with the other two. She let out a depressed sigh and reluctantly entered Chidori's room.

As Naruto caught up with the other two that stopped just before the taped door, he heard Sasuke seriously ask Raiden, "I want you to tell me if Naruto's your mother?" This made Naruto stumble in his steps and almost fall on his face. "Teme, what the hell?!"

Sasuke ignored the blond, waiting patiently for the other to answer. The latter's expression didn't change from the unexpected question. He merely answered with a, "Yes." With an Uchiha smirk crossing his features, "But Naruto already knew that." His statement caused Sasuke to quirked an eyebrow before he turned and glared at Naruto. "How did you know dobe?" But inwardly his heart was beating with a thrill that Naruto would one day be his. And his alone.

Naruto straightened and began nibbling on his inner cheek. "Ummm....." What was he supposed to say? Sasuke didn't know about Kyuubi and he wasn't about to tell him now. "I just did.....It's not like it wasn't kind of obvious! You suspected!"

"But I wasn't completely sure." he sneered at him before his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Did you know that you could bear children also?"

"No! Of course not! Not until Ky--" he bit his tongue to stop himself from going any further. _'Crap...' _

Sasuke's glare grew in tensity. "Until what dobe?" When the blond replied with a simple, "Nothing." he took a step towards the younger boy. Then another and another, until he was standing in front of a fidgeting Naruto pressed against a wall. "Until _what_?"

"It's not like it actually matters!" chimed in Raiden to hopefully help Naruto out of this situation. Because it was kind of his fault that he was in it in the first place.

"You stay out of it." he growled out without taking his glared onyx away from the blond in front of him. Though that didn't stop Naruto from turning his head toward Raiden and giving the older blond a dirty look for getting him into this. The latter blond gave him a apologetic look in return.

Naruto's head was forced back forward by Sasuke's hand gripped on his chin. "Pay attention."

"Fuck you." came the defiant reply.

The raven smirk and shook his head slightly. "No dobe. I'll be the one fucking you someday. Not the other way around." His smirk deepened when Naruto's entire face turned a bright red. He positioned his hands on either side of the blond's head and leaned closer. Causing Naruto's face to burn more. He only stopped when he was a couple of inches from him. "Now I'm only going to say this one more time." His breath mixing with the blond's. "Until. What?"

_'Ohohohhh, two can play at this, teme.' _Naruto thought wickedly before closing that small distance between their lips only enough where his lips were lightly brushing Sasuke's.

The only thing that showed that what Naruto was doing was affecting the raven was his breath hitching. His body remained glued to where it was, not moving. Not even when he wanted to press his lips harder against the surprising soft ones of the blond.

Naruto remained like this for a moment longer, also ignoring his own impulses, before he breath out, "That's none of your business. Not _yet_ that is." And before Sasuke could comprehend what the blond said and get back to his senses, Naruto was already out from in front of him and a fair distance. So the raven couldn't try anything else.

Sasuke growled deep in his throat at the grinning and blushing blond. ".To." he sneered out dangerously.

Raiden immediately stepped between the two, "Alrighty, not that we have established that you two are the younger versions of my parents. Can we continue on to my humble aboard?" Wagging his eyebrows up and down in a fake suggestiveness.

Sasuke's eyes rolled before they went back to glaring at his teammate. But he decided that it would be best to let the thing with Naruto go for now. He'll find out eventually. He'll make sure of it. A shiver went down Naruto's spine when an unexpected smirk adorned the raven's features. _'That's never a good sign.'_

Seeing the crime tape from the corner of his eye, brought Sasuke back to the realization that Naruto won't be around in the possible future. That thought switched his smirk into a deep frown as he turned his head to looked at the seemingly forbidden door. "Do you know who killed your mother?" he asked kind of randomly.

Well, it was random to Raiden. The playfulness that he had a moment before was now gone. Diminished once the questioned was asked. "No. There are theories but whoever did it was never caught." he informed flatly as he passed the taped down and down the hallway.

Sasuke "Hmn." mostly to himself and followed the older blond.

All the while, Naruto stood glued to his spot and stared intently at the taped door. There was just something that felt off when he looked at the door. Something he couldn't explain but could feel deep inside him. Something was wrong about all this. He didn't know how he knew there was something wrong, he just knew. This wasn't right.

_'Ne Kyuu, you awake?' _he asked his demon tenant.

_**'Yeah, what do you want Kit?'**_

_'I was wondering, if I'd be able to smell blood even if it's like two or so years old?' _

_**'As long as there is still evidence of blood. Then it wouldn't matter how old it is. Is that all?' **_

_'Yup, thanks Kyuu!' _

_**'No problem, brat.' **_

Normally, Naruto would of retaliated with one thing or another but right now, he was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't bother. Usually when someone kills another shinobi with a family in their own home, it means that it was some type of justice killing or revenge or some other thing along those lines. It really depended on what his future rank is. But the point is, the crime scene would normally be gruesome--visually taunting the family member who found the body.

But that's what had Naruto confused. If his speculation was right, _'Then why don't I smell any blood?' _

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his stomach, breaking his thoughts. His soft groan of pain catching the attentions of Sasuke and Raiden further down the hall. An image flashed in front of Naruto's eyes. An image of a elaborate seal with someone's hand hovering above it. With that same hand being gripped by another. As fast as the image came, another replaced it. This time it was an image of three baby boys being held by masked nurses. Once again the image was replace with an image of dead bodies sprawled around him with blood everywhere.

_'What the hell's going on?'_ he asked himself just as he turned to look down the hall. Which began to blur and change into an unfamiliar corridor right before his eyes. The feeling of being an observer in someone else's body returning.

_He was walking down a dimly lighted hospital corridor. His footsteps echoing off the white walls as his steps took him closer to the double doors at the end of the hall. 'This again!' he screamed inwardly as he made a futile attempt to move some kind of body part. And as he already suspected, nothing moved that he actually wanted to move.'Great....just great....'_

Raiden mutter something loud enough for Sasuke, next to him, to hear, "What the hell is he staring at? It can't be _that_ interesting."

"Dobe!" Sasuke called out to the blond's back when he realized that he wasn't moving anymore. After a long moment of getting no response from the absolutely frozen Naruto, Sasuke quickly approached the left side of the blond with Raiden approaching the right.

Once Sasuke was in front of Naruto, the first thing he noticed and secretly wished he would never see again, were his eyes. They were violet. Just like the time in that damn white room. When he thought it was just his imagination. He lifted his hand and placed it on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto." he said, his voice unconsciously going soft as he addressed the other. His hand shaking the blond mildly.

Raiden curiously leaned closer to Naruto's face. "Are his eyes violet?" he asked curiously as he stared intently at the unusual shade. "Does this happen often? 'Cause personally I've never seen my Kaa-san's eyes violet before. Red maybe but never violet."

But the raven wasn't listening to a single word that Raiden said, because he was silently panicking. _'What's wrong with him? Why isn't he moving or saying anything?'_ He shook the blond harder in hopes that it would stir him into consciousness. "Dobe!" he tried again but once again, got no response.

_He was nearing the double doors, now only a few steps. And just as he was about to push pass them, a voice from behind yelled, "Iida!" which caused him to stop. He felt his head move against his will and turn around to see who called him. The annoyance that was rising up, not belonging to him nor the other presence within. _

_Naruto's fear began to bubble when he saw a man, looking to be in his early forties, walking in his direction. His waist length forest green hair, that was tied into a pony tail at the nape of his neck, swayed with each step he took. The dim light reflecting off his glasses in a sinister sort of way as he stopped a few feet in front of him. "You have another mission tomorrow." he informed in a sense that he was going to do it if he liked it or not. _

_Inwardly Naruto let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to get injected again. But an undignified snort unwillingly escaped his throat. "Another--"_

"--village?" his voice sounding disgusted at the prospect.

Both Sasuke and Raiden startled at the fact that the blond spoke when he hadn't said or done anything for the past minute. And then to say something so.....random, it was just getting stranger and stranger for the two.

"What's he talking about, 'another village' ?" Raiden asked to the raven, thinking that he might know. But Sasuke turned slightly and glared at the older blond like he hit his head stupidly. "How would I know that?" he snapped at the other. Disliking the fact that he didn't know what was going on with his dobe.

They both suddenly went silent as Naruto began speaking again. "Where's the challenge in those pathetic places?--"

"_--They barely even fight back. It bores me....." he trailed off as his fingers fiddled with, what felt like, a hem of a long jacket. Though Naruto couldn't see what the hell he was actually wearing, since the body he was in hasn't look down at all. So he could only go by what it felt like to get an idea of what he was wearing. _

_The green haired male quirked an eyebrow, "I thought you liked the violence?" he said with a smirk present on his features._

A creak from the slight distance caught Raiden's attention. For a split second, he was going to disregard it but then his mind automatically gave him the reason why that noise was so familiar. _'Oh shit.' _he thought as his eyes widened and hastily muttered to Sasuke. "Tou-san's coming."

"Maybe he might know what's wrong with Naruto." Sasuke, for an unknown reason, whispered back.

"I'm gonna let that stupid comment pass, since you don't really have any idea how my Tou-san gets with anything that involves Kaa-san. So, I'm telling you, don't get my Tou-san involved." His onyx eyes pleading with his unrelenting younger Tou-san. "Please, Tou-san doesn't need it alright."

Sasuke sighed when he heard the other resort to begging. _'Damn it, I think I'm going soft.' _"Fine. Grab his legs." he ordered as he moved behind Naruto and positioned his arms underneath the blond's armpits. Raiden bent down, grabbed a ankle in each hand and literally swept his younger mother off his feet. Sasuke supporting the upper half of Naruto's body with his arms.

"My room's the last door on the left." he muttered to Sasuke, while tilting his head at said door. Sasuke took a quick glance before they both began scurrying down the hall with Naruto in their grasps. "Hurry hurry hurry." whispered Raiden to Sasuke.

_He glared at the annoying smirk and said in an eerie calm. "Only when it's a challenge. I prefer to go visit **him**, though. The one that keeps floating around in this head." He felt a sinister smile form on his face. "**He's** the one that I want to play with. Not massacring random villages.--"_

Raiden visibly stiffened and faltered in his steps at the 'massacring random villages' bit. Staring at the blond like he shouldn't know something like that, as Naruto continued in his odd speaking. "--At least **he'll** be a challenge. A wonderful challenge....."

Sasuke noticed how Raiden stiffened up when Naruto said something about massacring villages and made a mental note to ask about it later. But right now, he was the one that had to open the door to Raiden's bedroom. Since he was the one that was walking backwards, which got him to the door first. Sasuke shifted the blond's weight and snaked his left arm around Naruto's torso. Hugging the boy close to his chest as he used his right arm to open the door.

"_Don't worry, your chance is getting closer. Be patient." stated the green haired male as he came closer to him. "You're the ultimate weapon that will surely be **his** demise." The male's hand lifting and lightly caressing his cheek. Inwardly making Naruto cringe and whoever the other presence within, sick at the touch. "I don't know how he could win when he'll be fighting the one he loves most. It'll be quite interesting to watch really." _

_Naruto wasn't really sure why he didn't like how this guy was touching the body he was presently in. And obviously neither did the other person. Who's emotions were rising closer to him, making him slightly choke from the intensity of them. _

Once the door was opened, they entered without a moments thought. Raiden kicking the door shut loudly behind him with his leg.

* * *

Older Sasuke solemnly walked down the hall with his hands deep in his pants pockets. His Anbu armor gone and laying by the couch downstairs. He briefly glanced at the walls that held so many memories. Memories he didn't want to remember. That period of time that spanned over a decade but it was too short to Sasuke. He guessed that's what happens when you're actually happy. When time seems to go by so fast.

But now, when he feels like he can easily fall into darkness, does time go by slowly. These past two years feeling like a eternity passing by. If it wasn't for his children, he already knew that he wouldn't have survived. He would of stayed in the darkness that consumed him. And he shamefully admits that there were times that he wished he had. When the pain becomes too much that even the presences of his children doesn't help any.

A door slamming caught his attention, snapping his head to the right down another hall. But instead of looking for the source of the noise, his eyes immediately went to the taped door. Which brought up unwanted images of _that_ day. The good and happy memories that occurred in that room would never over-shadow the memory of that day. _Nothing_ could _ever_ over-shadow the agonizing pain that erupted through his veins when he walked through the door that very last time. The pain that's still running through him.....

He firmly turned his head back forward and continued toward the twin's room. He didn't want to remember that fateful day that destroyed his life.....his entire world.....

* * *

"Lets sit him on the bed." Sasuke ordered as he moved over to the bed and readjusted the blond in his arms. Raiden nodded in agreement, "We have to get Naruto out of whatever he's in before Tou-san comes and checks on us. Though we're lucky, Tou-san always checks on me last. He always goes from the youngest up. So we have a little time. But not much. I wouldn't dandle."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the other's rambling. Then gently placed Naruto on the bed, which was snugged in the corner of the right of the room, and pushed him up into a sitting position. While at the same time, Raiden let go of his legs and then proceeded and lightly slapping the side of Naruto's face. "Naruto! Oi Naruto, snap out of it!"

_The man's hand that was caressing is cheek, slowly drifted from his face and to his chest. "I always wondered what it would be like to thrust in that tight ass of yours." _

_That mere statement caused the other person to panic drastically. His emotions increasing to heightened levels and blending into his, overloading his senses. He could feel that the other didn't want to be touch so intimately by this person. Because it wasn't __**him**__. The one and only that he wanted to be touch by. _

_The body stayed stilled, making no move to push the other away. He merely blankly stared at him as the male's hand traveled lower and his face came closer to his own. 'No, this isn't right. Make him stop.' he heard himself beg. It was becoming too much. The other person's emotions were too much. They were suffocating him. Making him feel things that weren't his. Making him see images that weren't his. They weren't his......_

Naruto whimpered as he lowered his head into his hands and gripped his hair tightly. "Ahh, make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop." he chanted as tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. Sasuke grabbed the blond's wrists, "Dobe...?" The worry he was feeling unfortunately showing in his voice. He couldn't help it, though. He felt so helpless. He didn't know what to do to make the blond better. To stop whatever was happening.

_That hand that just arrived at the waistband of his pants, was grabbed brutally in an almost bone-breaking grip. Making the descending lips stop in mid-air."If you think for one second that I'm gonna let you shove your dick up my ass, then you're more fucked up than I thought." _

_The other male smirked and then chuckled loudly before he leaned in close to his ear, "It sounds like the owner is still influencing you, Iida." _

The blond's mutterings suddenly stopped and Naruto's eyes widened like saucers as his body began to tremble uncontrollably. The emotions suddenly taking a jump in intensity. "STOOOOOP!!!" he screamed out as he struggled against the raven's hold on his wrists.

* * *

Older Sasuke was heading toward Chidori's room to say goodnight when he heard Naruto scream out. His heart automatically jumped into his throat, unconsciously thinking that it was his wife while his feet moved on their own accord. Sprinting pass Chidori and Sakura, who quickly stepped out into the hall and were going to Raiden's room to find out what was wrong with Naruto.

He burst through the door and the first thing that he took notice of was Naruto. He had himself pushed up against the wall in the corner--on top of bed, mutterings things underneath his breath. Younger Sasuke was kneeling on the bed, trying to get closer to Naruto without upsetting him more. Raiden stood off to the side, wide eyed and not having any idea how to deal with this.

Raiden snapped his head to his door when he heard it burst open. His eyes looking at his father pleadingly when he enter the room, his sister and Sakura following after. Chidori gasped loudly and Sakura exclaimed, "Naruto!" when they saw the condition of the blond.

Sakura ran to the bedside side and asked frantically with accusation in her voice, "What'd you do to him?!"

Raiden looked wide eyed at the pink haired kunoichi with a expression that spoke, _Are you mad! I didn't do anything to him!_ He was just about to retort with some form of profanity when his father intersected with, "What happened?" his tone flat and silently warning not to start.

He took the warning and instead of cussing out Sakura, he answered his father. "We don't really know. We were all in the hall.....uhhhh.......chatting you can say, when he just suddenly stopped moving."

"No." interrupted the younger Sasuke, "We were further down the hall. Naruto was staring at that taped door--" Older Sasuke twitched slightly at this. "--when he groaned and _then_ he stopped moving."

"Hmmm....yeah.....he was staring at the other end of the hall. But when we went up to him, he wasn't really staring at anything. Ummm.....like a trance. His eyes are a creepy violet and he keeps saying odds things."

"Violet?" repeated older Sasuke, disregarding the other things that were said. Raiden nodded his head vigorously as his response. Which had older Sasuke slightly perplexed, he's never seen his wife's eyes violet before. He strolled up to the side of bed and crawled partly on top of the mattress. Then reached his hand out and using that same hand, he grabbed the hysterical blond's ankle. And non to gently, he dragged him across the mattress and toward him.

Younger Sasuke watched this with an impassive expression but inside he was searing. He didn't like how the other was hovering over _his_ Naruto in such a suggestive position. And his hand that was resting on the comforter on the bed, clenched the fabric in a brutal grip when his older self grabbed the blond's chin and brought his face closer to his.

Older Sasuke felt the burning glare on himself and knew where it was coming from. A couple of years ago, he would of smirk arrogantly but now he only found it annoying. He didn't need to deal with his own possessiveness right now. Or ever.

Now that he was closer to Naruto, he could hear exactly what the blond was muttering. "Not mine, not mine. Don't want to feel this, see this. Not mine. It's too much. Too much." Over and over this or variations of this was muttered from the blond's mouth. His brows furrowed when he focused on the violet of Naruto's unfocused eyes. _'Odd....'_ he thought before he spoke clearly enough for the whole room to hear. "Kyuubi." Wanting to speak with the fox about this.

"Kyuubi." echoed Sakura, "Why are you calling Naruto, Kyuubi?"

He ignored her, waiting for the change that always happened when Kyuubi emerged. But when no change occurred, he began to get aggravated. He growled deep in his throat as he used his free hand to lift up Naruto's shirt. Thinking that the fox was merely ignoring him.

A scowl was now fully set on the younger Sasuke's features as his hand twitched in instinct to hit his older self. He didn't care that the other was calling Naruto a demon's name. Nope fuck that, all he was caring about at the moment was that he was touching his blond so familiarly. Though, that tattoo on his stomach did catch his attention from the matter at hand. _'What the hell....'_

When older Sasuke saw the seal visible, he knew that something was seriously going on if it involve Kyuubi's abilities. _'What could be happening that he would have to get involved?' _he wondered. There was only one other way that he knew of to find out. But that really was the last thing he wanted to do. He could barely even look at the boy without undoubtedly seeing what he forever lost. So, how was he suppose to enter his mind that's only a younger version of his wife's? Could he actually take it?

Well, he's going to find out. He took a deep breath as he activated his sharingan._ 'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. It's only him.' _But that was the problem. And before he could talk himself out of it, he entered Naruto's mind.

_Sasuke stood in thick fog. Thick enough where he couldn't even see a foot in front of him. 'Okay, I wasn't expecting this.' Where was Kyuubi's cage? Every time he came here, which has only been a few times, he always appeared in front or near Kyuubi's domain. So, where was it? Hell, where was he? _

_He didn't like the way this was looking. The fog itself appeared and felt like it was alive. Floating and moving around him. The coldness of it, sending chills through his body. His eyes narrowed into slits when the realization hit him. 'It's not the boy's. It's too cold to be his.' _

_But how was that possible? He entered into Naruto's mind. Then how could he be in someone else's? But the real question was, who's mind was he in?_

_He took a hesitate step forward and then another. Until he was aimlessly walking through the fog. His destination, if there was any destination, was unknown. He wasn't even sure if he could get out of here if he wanted to. _

_His aimless treading--finally--brought him to a section without any fog. It wasn't much but at least it was something different. Though the air here was a lot thicker than the air within the thick fog. With something else floating densely in the surroundings. 'Emotions?' he questioned himself. But he knew that they were. They were calling out to him and clamping around his heart like he was personally affected by whoever's emotions these were. It was suffocating. Making it harder for him to breath._

_Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes from the intensity of the emotions that was emitting from the air. Tenderly caressing every cell of his skin, causing a familiar sensation to fill his being. A sensation that only occurred when **he** was near. He wanted it to stop. It was too familiar. Too familiar....._

"_You shouldn't be here." echoed a voice throughout the surroundings. Making Sasuke slightly jumped from the suddenness. "Who is this?" he asked immediately. Wanting and needing to know. _

"_You shouldn't be here." the voice said again but this time it didn't come from the surroundings, it came from directly behind him. Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat at the sound of voice. A voice he hasn't heard in two years. "Naruto...." he breathed out, barely audible. His heart thundering in his ears at the prospect that his love was right behind him. _

_Two tan arms snaked around the raven's waist as a chin rested on his shoulder. Naruto's breath breathing against his ear, "You shouldn't be here." he said again, "You have to leave. Or else you'll get stuck."_

_Sasuke's breathing was coming out in short pants. The tears that had gathered, slowly falling down his pale cheeks. "Naruto....is it really you? It can't be, I saw y-your......" Sasuke whispered desperately as he attempted to turn around. He wanted to see him, wanted to hold him. But the other's arms remained firm, keeping the raven in place. "No. You can't stay. You have to save them."_

_Sasuke struggled against the hold that Naruto had on him. Naruto eventually let him go, resulting in the raven swirling around. Only to find empty air. His heart fell as he snapped his head in all directions, desperate to find his wife._

_After another moment of pointless searching his body went lax, his legs giving out as he fell to his knees. "Please come back....." he begged to the surroundings. _

_He felt strong arms hug his chest and he made no attempt to turn around. He didn't want him to disappear again. Never again. His eyes closed in contentment and relinquished in the feeling of those arms. "H-How can you b-be here?" he asked as he lifted one of his hands and placed it on Naruto's arms. Touching the limbs to see if they were really there. "Y-You were g-gone......"_

_Naruto shook his head against his shoulder. "No, not gone. Only misplaced. Still misplaced......." He mentally shook himself because this isn't what needed to be said. "But my predicament doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you get to them. Before they think their leverage isn't needed anymore. Please Sasuke, you have to save them!" _

_The dire tone of the other's voice caused him to ask, "Who?" _

"_Our sons....."_


	10. Bare Bones

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Ten

**Bare Bones**

The first thing that Sasuke's hazy mind registered was the voices talking around him. Feeling like they were a sledgehammer to his head every time they went an octave higher. He opened his eyes slowly and immediately closed them again when light flooded his vision. Too bright. He groaned and lifted his arm over his closed eyes to shield them from the almost blinding light.

This movement obviously caught the attention of several people within the room. Because his hearing picked up scurrying of people around him and then tangible silence. He focused his mind more on his surroundings and felt four presences near him. And from his many experiences of sleeping on the couch, he knew that was where he was located. _'But why am I here?' _he question himself.

He opened his eyes partly and instead of seeing a bright light, his vision was covered with his arm. He tried to think back to how he got here. How he got down here on the couch. He didn't remember going to bed last night. The last thing he remembered was rushing to Raiden's room. A sharp pain shot through his head when he tried to remember further. But it didn't stop him. It felt too important to forget. Too important.....

"_You have to save them."_

This rang through his head. Ringing over and over, taunting him with the importance of what it meant. _'Damn it! What's wrong with me?!'_ That voice, it clenched at his heart. Squeezing it tightly, making him feel this painful desperation to remember. This kind of emotions, they only ever appeared whenever he thought of......_'Naruto....' _His eyes widened when a memory came flooding back to him.

"_H-How can you b-be here?" he asked as he lifted one of his hands and placed it on Naruto's arm. Touching the limbs to see if they were really there. "Y-You were g-gone....."_

_Naruto shook his head against his shoulder. "No, not gone. Only misplaced. Still misplaced......"_

Sasuke bolted into a sitting position. His sudden movement startling the few people within the room. _'It can't be......Naruto.....he's......' _The corner of his eyes began to sting with unshed tears. A light flickering in the blackness of his soul at the mere possibility.

"Sasuke-kun?" came the female voice of Sakura. Disrupting his process of remembering the short encounter with his--thought forever lost--wife. "Sasuke-kun?!" But he ignored her as he once again shut his eyes shut tightly and clutched at his head. Putting all of his concentration in reaching that set of memories. He had to remember. He couldn't forget him. Never him.....

"_But my predicament doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you get to them. Before they think their leverage isn't needed anymore. Please Sasuke, you have to save them!" _

_The dire tone of the other's voice caused him to ask, "Who?"_

"_Our sons....." came the whispered reply from Naruto. But this reply resulted in Sasuke furrowing his brows in confusion. "Sons? Raiden and Kaze?" _

_Naruto shook his head softly as he nuzzled closer to Sasuke's neck. His breath hitting his neck when he spoke, "No no no,they're safe with you. But the three with me aren't. They're still too young to realize what's going on around them isn't right. And I want to make sure before my control is completely gone that they're safe with you. With they're father....." He placed a gentle kiss on the pale neck. "So please don't look for me. Look for them. Make sure you find them."_

"_Naruto, I can't just--" Sasuke began brokenly but Naruto cut him off quick, "No, Sasuke. Y-You have to forget about me. I'm already too far gone. No one can save me, not even you. But they need you. They're our innocent little babies, they don't deserve to be in the middle of this.....battle. They never deserved this--"_

Sasuke was suddenly brought out of the memory with a hard shake from Sakura. "Sasuke-kun, snap out of it!" she shouted at the raven with the distress she was feeling lacing in her voice. Extremely worried that her friend was having a relapse.

He reopened his now burning eyes. Trying to organize his disoriented thoughts. _'This can't be happening.....' _It couldn't be. He's the one who found his body. How can he still be alive? His logical part of him told him that it was impossible but.....the part that only belonged to Naruto, practically screamed to him that he was alive.

But if that's true, then the hallow reality he's been forcing himself to walk through has all been a lie. That all this time, Naruto's been alive and......_'Oh god.....' _He felt his eyes begin to burn with more intensity and the feeling of warm liquid dripping down is cheeks._ 'How could I let this happen?!' _Because all this time, these past two years, he willingly let his wife be a captive of the enemy. Letting them do whatever they wanted with his wife.....

Bile rose up into his throat and he quickly jumped off the couch and ran to the nearest trashcan. Violently throwing up the contents of his stomach. The realization hitting him like a ton of bricks and each one hitting him exactly where it ached.

Sakura turned her tear rimmed eyes to the other two adults in the room. Which happened to be Tsunade and Kakashi. And gave them a look that said, 'What are we suppose to do?' The two's own expressions rivaled hers at the highly unusual behavior of the eldest Uchiha.

Raiden, who was also in the room, stood to the side and worriedly watched his father loose it. It wasn't like his father to show this much emotion in one sitting. Well, sitting and then running to the trashcan to barf. But that's not the point. The point is, the last time he's seen his father show a reasonable about of emotion was when his mother was still alive. Once he died, he shut himself off, almost completely. Only showing a certain amount of emotion to them. His children.

Sasuke stared emptily at the bile in the small trashcan. Not really seeing the contents. His complexion had become paler than normal and glistened with a cold sweat. He roboticly wiped the mess from his chin with his arm and stood up on shaky legs. _'I have to make sure.'_ Was the only thing running through his numb mind as his shoulder was gripped from behind, almost making him stumble over, and forced him to turn around to face non-other than Sakura.

The latter looked up at the almost empty onyx orbs. A sheer determination showing that had her question his sanity. "We should get him to the hospital for observation." said Tsunade behind her. Not at all likely what she has observed and inwardly prayed that whatever happen between the two didn't affect the younger Naruto that way it has affected Sasuke.

"No." came the defiant reply from the raven. "Naruto...."

The four occupants of the room were shocked to hear the blond's name coming from his lips. In the passed two years they haven't heard him once uttered his wife's name. Not even a semblance to it.

"Naruto's fine. He's still unconscious but appears to be fine. What happened between you two?" Sakura said gently. Like she was talking to a mere child.

Which Sasuke obviously took notice of. He growled in his throat and threw her hand that was still positioned on his shoulder, off. Ignoring her question. "I'm not talking about _him_. I'm talking about _my_ Naruto." he snapped at her. "I think he's still alive."

* * *

Sasuke sat in a chair only a few feet away from the unconscious blond laying on the bed, staring at his peaceful expression. It's already been eleven hours since the other Sasuke and Naruto collapsed. Neither of them, as he knew of, haven't awoken yet. And as more time passed, even if it hasn't really been awhile, made him more anxious. A vague thought kept running through his head that the other Sasuke did something to him. But he couldn't really see him doing anything to the blond. Not with the way he itsy bitsy shows his love for Naruto.

Besides, there wasn't even enough time for the other to do anything. That's how fast it all occurred. One minute his older self was staring straight in the eye of Naruto and the next they were both unconscious.

The bedroom door opened and he didn't have to bother to turn to know that Sakura entered. Her eyes saddened when she saw that Sasuke was still in the same spot as he was when she left the room two hours ago to help Chidori with the younger children. Surprisingly enough she didn't feel any kind of jealousy when Naruto was unconsciously receiving more attention from the raven than her. She only felt worry for both of her teammates. "Sasuke-kun....." she began hesitantly, "......it sounds like Sasuke-san is awake."

It didn't take more than three seconds before Sasuke was out of the door and yelling over his shoulder, "Watch him!" She nodded even knowing that her raven teammate wouldn't see it.

He walked down the hall in hastened steps but stopped when he reached the opened door of Chidori's room. He glanced inside, only to find Chidori, the twins and Umi sitting on the floor with several coloring books and large amount of assorted crayons around them. The corner of his lips tugged upward, forming a soft smile at the sight. He stared for another moment before moving on down the hall and toward the staircase.

* * *

The silence that reigned immediately after that statement was as thick as tar. Making the air within the room slightly suffocating.

Tsunade was the first to break the shocked silence. Her chocolate brown eyes looking gently upon the man she's grow attached to, thanks to the blond they both held affections for. "Sasuke......no matter how much that we wished it weren't true." Sasuke's eyes closed, already anticipating what was coming next. "We all know that Naruto......." It was always hard admitting it out loud. ".......we all know he's de-dead."

Out of frustration, Sasuke's jaw kept clenching and unclenching. "Are you done giving me the general speech you give to everyone. I felt him when I went into the younger boy's mind." Why wasn't he surprised when those sympathetic looks adorned the other three adults. So he thought a little explaining was in order. "I remember going into the boy's mind but I wasn't in his. It was too cold to his. Somehow I got in someone else's."

"That's impossible Sasuke." interrupted Kakashi. His book long forgotten because of the concern he was feeling for his former student. "You of all people should know--"

"Yes." he cut him off shortly. "But I know I was in someone else's mind. He was there. I heard his voice. Felt his touch. I know it was him......" his voice trailing off by the end of it.

"Sasuke-kun, please don't do this to yourself!" pleaded Sakura. "Naruto's gone. He's gone...."

"No, not gone. Only misplaced. Still misplaced....." he murmured to himself. He needed proof to convince them. Solid proof to convince them and to convince himself before he can fret about what else his wife said. _'Misplaced.....'_ repeated over in his mind. "I want his body exhumed." he mouth said on its own accord.

Younger Sasuke chose that time to appear at the entrance to the living room. Hearing what the other said but without hearing what was said before that, he didn't understand the entire conversation. But with just seeing his older self pissed him off. He wanted to know what he did to his blond.

"Absolutely not!!" shouted Tsunade instantly after his request. While Kakashi's one visible eye widened and Sakura showed a highly disturbed and slightly disgusted expression on her features. Raiden was rooted to his spot, just as shocked at his grandmother and Uncle and Aunt.

"He's my wife! I have all right to exhume his body if I damn well please!!" he yelled, each word growing in volume.

"Not if you're mental stability compromises your decision making!!" the older woman retorted back.

Sasuke's eye twitched, "That has nothing to do with this." he growled at her. His eyes dangerously flashing red.

Her angered expression softened, "Sasuke, you think you're wife is alive. What do you expect me to think? There's a possibility that you're having a relapse from entering the younger Naruto's mind. Let's just go to the hospital and make sure that your mental health is stable."

His feet began pacing back and forth with angry steps, his patience running out fast. "The only place I'll be going is to Naruto's grave. If you won't dig him up, then I will!"

"STOP IT!!!" frantically screamed a now crying Sakura. Causing Sasuke to stop his pacing and glare at her. All the other occupants stared at her also at her sudden outburst. "Just stop it! What's wrong with you?! You're talking about digging up you're wife! You're supposed love! What kind of husband are you to desecrate--" but she was cut short from a hard slap to her cheek from Sasuke. Which caused her to yelp out in pain and fall to the floor from the strength put behind the hit. Her crying worsening with the knowledge that one of her best friends just hit her out of anger.

Both of younger Sasuke's eyebrows rose at the unexpected action of his older self. He glanced over at Raiden to see his reaction, wondering if he did this kind of thing often. Did he become abusive over time? But as he studied Raiden's expression, he realized that this wasn't a everyday thing. Because the older blond looked more shocked than anyone else in the room.

Sakura tilted her head just so she could glance up at the raven, indescribable shock written on her face. But she was frightening met with the sharingan of a highly irate Uchiha.

"Sasuke, that's enough!" yelled Kakashi. "That was uncalled for!"

Sasuke scoffed, "What was uncalled for was her mouth. As usual, she doesn't know when to keep it shut."

"How dare you!" she exclaimed as she hoisted herself back on her feet. Her fist clenching into a fist in preparation to punch her old teammate in retaliation. "You're the heartless prick that's willing to disturb Naruto's resting place!" Even if she knew that he wasn't that heartless, her anger at the situation were making her words come out as venomous as possible. "And for what?! To prove something that you already know for a fact that it's true!"

"I don't know anything anymore! I now have doubts! And until I find out for a fact that he's dead right at this very moment, then I won't be able to rest......"

"You saw his body Sasuke! I saw his body! God, half the village saw his body at his funeral! He's dead! There's no possible way that he could be alive! It's just not possible!"

"Just like--" Sasuke turned and cocked his head at the younger Sasuke. "--_that_ wasn't suppose to be possible." Using the pink haired kunoichi's words against her. "Wasn't that suppose to be impossible, _Sakura_?"

Sakura's eyes widened at the use of her own words. "You know that's different. It's not bringing the dead back to life."

"And yet a Naruto is walking around." he retorted back at the woman with a smug smirk. Knowing he did it once again. She should be careful what she says in an argument. Sakura opened her mouth once again but was interrupted with Tsunade ordering, "Enough you two!" Her fingers rubbing her head to stop the oncoming headache. _'God, how I need a drink.' _

"Sasuke I know what the brat meant to you. But this isn't going to bring him back. And it isn't going to make you feel any better by seeing his decomposing body."

Tears sprung to his eyes out of desperation and frustration. "I'm not doing this because--"

"Stop Uchiha. You have children that need you. They....." Tsunade trailed off as she saw something that she thought she would never see in her lifetime or any other lifetime for that matter.

Sasuke was on his hands and knees, his head bent low with his nose almost touching the floor. "Please Hokage-sama, I'm begging you. Please allow this." he pleaded. Sucking and holding in all his pride just to show the other that he was serious. That he was beyond desperate for her to approve. He needed to know.

"Even if I would allow it. The council would have to approve it also. There would have to be plausible cause to exhume the Rokudaime. And his husband's wish with known mental unstableness is not a cause. They would never allow it."

His teeth grinded together as he lifted his head. Staring up at Tsunade with determination, "Then don't tell them. They have no right to have a decision in this anyway."

There was a prolonged silence as Tsunade stared at the younger man still bent on his knees. There was just so much emotions in what he was saying that it had her rethinking. He's never blatantly came out and said that Naruto might still be alive. Not even once in the past two years. And now, he didn't say that he _was_ still alive. It was he _might_ be. She sighed defeated, "If you can explain away why there was a body, then I will form a team to begin the exhumation." she bargained lowly.

When his mind heard the first half of her sentence, Sasuke's mind began to run a mile a minute. Running through hundreds of different techniques and jutsus that could possibly be used for this. There had to be something. Anything. Then he remembered something that Orochimaru was discussing with Kabuto when he was under his training. He ran the whole conversation in his head once and then again. _'It's possible. If someone found it. That person could of finished the technique. If it wasn't already finished before I killed him.'_ "Chishio Bunshin(1)."

"Chishio Bunshin?" repeated Tsunade.

"Hmn. It's a technique I heard Orochimaru was working on. And could of finished for all I know. What I heard it was a more advanced version of Kage Bunshin. A clone that wouldn't disappear no matter how much damage you inflicted on it. It would even bleed to make it seem like you were fighting the real person. An identical clone in every way. They didn't say anything about how you would identify a clone from the real thing though. But......as you said, it _explains away the body_."

"But there's nothing proving that, that technique was used or as you insinuated, even finished." stated Kakashi. It's not like he didn't want his former student to be right. But he just wonders if Sasuke isn't trying to grasp straws where there's no straws even present.

His eyes narrowed dangerously on his former sensei. Silently warning him if he kept going against him that it wouldn't end well for the older man. "Tsunade-sama only said that I had to explain away the body. Which I did. But she never said it had to have a high probability of it actually happening."

A defeated sigh escaped through the older woman's parted lips as her eyes fluttered closed. _'Damn, why does he always take my words literally.' _"Kakashi, discreetly form a team."

"You're not actually going to--" began Sakura but was cut off as Tsunade continued what she was saying without even acknowledging that the other woman said anything. "Only friends of Naruto. And be at his grave site in thirty minutes."

Kakashi gave a curt nod before poofing out of the Uchiha residence. Completely on the fence if this was a good idea or not.

Sasuke stood back up on his feet and bowed deeply to his Hokage in great gratitude. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama." His stomach now doing flips in anticipation.

"Don't thank me yet Uchiha. I hope that you understand that you're putting your friends at risk by doing this. Because if there is a body, everyone involved could lose their current positions....."

"But if there isn't?" countered Sasuke.

"If there isn't......then we are looking at complete humiliation from all the villages. They will see us as a incompetent village for being such idiots at not seeing what was obviously right in front of us." A sad smile formed. "But I don't think we would need surrounding villages telling us that, now would we? Because there'll be enough self-loathing to suffice."

Sasuke already knows a small amount of what he'll feel without proof. But with prove......

"_Nobody can save me. Not even you."_

Could he live with himself if he knew that he was the possible killer of his own wife?

* * *

The sun was blazing over the heads of the four men forcing their shovels into the settle dirt located in the Hokage section of the graveyard. Their process only as far as a foot deep in a perfect square in front of the tombstone with the engravings saying, 'Rokudaime. Uchiha Uzumaki Naruto. Faithful Wife, Loving Mother, Loyal Shinobi.'

"This is so wrong." stated one of the men known as Kiba. Particularly stabbing at the ground with unnecessary force. "There's not even a word for how wrong this is!" He couldn't believe they were doing this. How _could_ they do this?

"Shut up Kiba." snapped Chouji as he wiped off sweat from his brow with the hem of his shirt. He was having his own problems with dealing with this. He didn't need Kiba stating the obvious wrongness of it.

"You can't tell me that none of you don't have a problem digging up one of our best friends!" the brunette shouted at his friends.

Shikamaru threw a shovel full of dirt into the accumulating pile before stating. "We have an order. We follow through with the order no matter how troublesome it is."

Kiba scoffed, "Then this is one fucked up order!"

"Maybe it's Uchiha-san's request!" bellowed the morbidly excited Lee. "He could want to see his departed wife one last time to renew his youthful spirit!" They all blinked at the green clad man for a long couple of moments.

"Dude, it must be the sun, because I got the most twisted mental image out of that." said Kiba in a disbelieving tone.

Chouji gave the taller man a disgusted look, "Man, you're sick."

"What!!" he yelled indignantly.

"Troublesome....."

* * *

Sasuke and Raiden ascended the stairs once the other Sasuke, Tsunade and Sakura left the house toward the graveyard. Their steps caused the wood underneath their feet to creak slightly. Making the only noise present at the moment. For both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Until Raiden grasped a hold of Sasuke's shoulder to stop him and asked, "Do you think Kaa-san's still alive?" his voice barely above a whisper, so his siblings wouldn't hear.

The raven shrugged, "This whole thing is getting stranger as time passes. Let's just say it wouldn't surprise me."

He let his hand fall from the other's shoulder as he leaned his body against the wall behind himself. Feeling all the repressed emotions he's tried to push away, come to the surface. "But....." he began, a tear rolling down his cheek. "......if Kaa-san is still alive, then we have no idea what the enemy has done to him. And if those words from Naruto were actually coming from my Kaa-san's mouth, then......"

More tears fell from his eyes, including a sod escaping his throat. ".......it might not really be my Kaa-san that's alive......." His body slid down the wall until he was sitting on one of the steps. Pulling and hugging his legs against his chest as he cried.

"I-I....." stuttered Sasuke. He didn't know the first thing about consoling a person. That's something he never found useful to learn. He shuffled on his feet awkwardly and stared down at the wood of the steps. "Well you're.....father....." _'Damn, that feels weird.' _"......thinks that he's alive. Soooo......"

The raven never continued because Raiden chuckle bitterly. "Tou-san's belief isn't that reliable." This caused Sasuke to quirked an eyebrow in a silent request to elaborate. Raiden rubbed his slightly running nose on his sleeve before saying in a raspy voice, "Tou-san didn't take Kaa-san's death pretty well. It might have been better if he didn't find the body but I doubt it. Anyway, as Aunt Sakura explained it, he suffered from Catatonia(2). He didn't move or speak for almost five months. Since then, everyone's been waiting for him to lose it completely. And this just might be there chance......" muttering the last sentence lowly.

"Then if this is a wild goose chase....." started Sasuke so the other could finish it.

Raiden tilted his head up and looked at Sasuke in the eye. "And the council finds out. Then my Tou-san will probably be forced back into the hospital for observations by someone that isn't friends with him. And most likely my siblings will be taken away and sent to live with someone else." More tears fell from his red-rimmed eyes at the prospect of their family being further destroyed than it already was.

Sasuke ran a pale hand through his hair. This was becoming more messed up the more information he learns. And he didn't like it.

Was there ever happiness......

* * *

Tsunade, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi arrived at the grave site just as the group of four got halfway. "This is fucked up!" yelled Kiba when he felt the presences of the other four, just to express his reluctance of doing what he was doing. His shirt was successfully long gone, thanks to the scorching heat. Sweat dripping down his bare chest and his face.

The other three kept some of their decency and kept their shirts on. Though those pieces of material were now stuck to their bodies like a second skin, almost completely soaked with sweat.

Lee stopped in his digging for a moment to spread his arms wide toward the other group and yell, "Aaaaa, my cherry blossom!"

Everyone else that was digging rolled their eyes at the other's enthusiasm at seeing one of the people who probably had a saying in their digging up their best friend. Personally any of them would be yelling at their spouse for letting this happen. That just showed how whipped he was.

Sakura forcibly smiled at her sweaty husband. If it wasn't for the fact that he was digging up her best friend then she would be enjoying the sight of his muscles rippling with every shovel full of dirt. But now it was the complete composite. With every shovel of dirt, only brought them closer to the coffin. Which the idea made her want to vomit.

"Hokage-sama, would you mind explaining to us why were digging up Naruto?" asked the always calm Shikamaru. Not bothering with the no saying of the blond's name rule. Because obviously Sasuke knows what's going on, since he's here and hasn't killed them as of yet.

"I'll say once we see." she answered simply. Not willing to give the real reason why.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "I don't know what you're planning on finding."

Kiba stabbed the dirt with more force. "Exactly what we buried here." he growled out as he glared intensely at the disturbed soil.

All the while, Sasuke blankly stared at the slowly deepening hole that--for all he knew--held his wife. He wanted to believe in what he experienced when he went into the younger Naruto's mind. But as more dirt was being taken out and they were closing in on the coffin, dread built within his veins. Crawling through him and filling him with a extreme sense of anxiety.

What if he was wrong? What if it was his mind playing tricks on him? He didn't think he could take seeing the decomposing body of his wife. No, he knew for sure that he wouldn't be able to take it.

But even with these doubts racing through his mind, he didn't make any movement to stop them. Nor did any of this high-level of anxiety cross his face at all.

Chouji shoved his shovel into the ground but instead of the metal slicing through the dirt, it clank against what everyone knew was the coffin. He paled considerably as he looked up to his fellow diggers. Who immediately froze when they heard the connection of his shovel and the wood of the coffin.

_'This is it.....'_

* * *

Sasuke was once again in Raiden's room that held the still unconscious blond, sitting in the same chair and skimming through a random book. Sakura sat cross-legged in the middle of room, childishly coloring in a color book to keep herself busy and hopefully keep her worry down. Raiden was also in the room, he sat cross-legged against the left wall with playing cards in front of him and in his hands. The positions of the cards on the floor indicated that he was playing solitaire. And every ten minutes he would leave and check on his siblings to make sure they were alright.

Scratching against paper, flipping cards, turning papers and a couple of sighs here and there, were the only sounds made within the room. The sounds of Chidori entertaining the younger children filtered to the room, also causing the room from falling into complete silence. But the noises weren't annoying to any of the occupants, it was actually slightly soothing.

A movement from the figure on the bed caught Sasuke's attention. He concentrated on every part of the blond for any more signs of waking up and after doing so for like a minute, he deemed it his imagination. When he was going to turn his eyes back down to his book, Naruto's whole body shifted on the mattress. Catching the attentions of the other two in the room. The latter two jumped from their spots on the floor and rushed over to the end of the bed.

Since the chair that Sasuke was sitting in was so close to the bed, he only had to lean forward to get closer to the blond. And once he particularly threw his book to the side, that's exactly what he did. "Naruto....." he said with a softness that he didn't know even existed.

The blond's eyes fluttered opened and closed for a long moment before they settled on staying partly open. He attempted to moisten his highly dry throat with his saliva as he turned his head to the right where the voice called his name. His breathtaking sapphire orbs landed on relieved onyx. "Sasuke...." he said with a raspy voice. "What's going on?"

Sasuke's lip upturned into a smirk. "Dobe....."

Sakura and Raiden's faces almost split for smiling as widely as they were. But in an instant, Raiden's smile turned into a deep frown when he felt an unfamiliar chakra in the house. A sense of foreboding flooded through him as he swirled on his heels and headed out of the room. Leaving the others thinking that he was going to tell Chidori the news.

* * *

The coffin of one Uchiha Naruto was now presently clean of the dirt that was once piled on top of it. The four men with dirt littering their sweaty bodies stood around the wooden box. Staring down upon it like their doom was present within.

"I can already tell you, that I'm not doing it." stated Kiba with a tone that silently said, that no one was going to change his mind. He threw his shovel over the edge of the hole and hoisted himself up with his arms and climbed out of the man made hole.

Chouji also threw his shovel on the leveled ground. "I can't." was the only thing he said before he too climbed out.

Shikamaru leaned his shovel against one of the inner walls of the hole and walked to the other side of the coffin--the side where the latches were. Lee copied the movements and stood beside Shikamaru. Who cocked his head to look at the green beast of Konoha. "You don't have to. I can do this on my own."

And for once, Lee didn't come back with something loud and holding unnecessary words of youthfulness. "One should not do something like this alone." was the only thing he said before bending down and unlatching the latches on his end. The lazy jounin stared at the other for a moment, then he too bent down and undid his latches closest to him.

They both shared a look of what they thought would come and steeled their stomachs. Two set of hands gripped the side of the coffin. And before they could talk themselves out of it, they quickly lifted their arms.

Bringing with their limbs, the lid to the coffin.

* * *

Raiden descended the stairs soundlessly with a kunai in his right hand. And with practiced stealth, he made his way to the living room, where the chakra signature was coming from. He leaned himself against the wall just before he got to the entrance of the living room. Taking in quiet breaths to hopefully calm his nerves that kept rising. There was something that kept creeping into him. Something that was wrong about this chakra signature. For some reason, it felt familiar but not at the same time.

Once he took in several breaths, he rounded the corner as his hand gripped the handle of the kunai tighter. Ready to fight to the death with whoever was in the next room.

His breathing stopped in his throat and he froze in his spot. The kunai that was a second before gripped tightly, now loosely fell to the floor. His eyes wide as saucers as he stared at the person standing arrogantly with his arms crossed over his chest in the middle of the living room.

A smirk present of the man's features as the pitch blackness of his eyes stared directly at the younger boy.

* * *

The two men stared through the small section of space to look inside the coffin. Not intending to open it any wider, so the other's didn't have to see what was within. But that didn't matter, because once Lee's vision landed on the inside, his hand let go of his lid and it slammed shut. His body stumbling back until he hit the wall of the hole with pure shock written all over his face.

Shikamaru stood stock still with the same expression on his features as Lee. His whole body trembling from what they've done. He turned and tilted his head upward to the ones that were waiting for what he had to say. He swallowed deeply, trying to moisten his suddenly dry throat. And when he found that he couldn't even speak, he decided to do the next best thing. He pushed the lid he held back with a force that would make it lean against the wall opposite it.

Wide and open.

Only to see that it was empty......

* * *

"Well look what we have." said the man in the middle of the room with a coldness that sent a shiver down Raiden's spine.

The latter's body kept unwillingly shaking with an unknown fear. His foot unconsciously taking a step back to put more distance from the man that shouldn't be standing there. _'No, this can't be real! He can't be real!'_ Tears scorched the corner of his eyes as his insides twisted painfully.

His mouth opened partly and in a cracked voice, he stuttered, "K-K-Ka-Kaa-s-san....."

* * *

1)**Chishio Bunshin****--**Blood clone

2)**Catatonia**--Is a disturbance of motor behavior that can have either psychological or neurological cause. Its most well-known form involves a rigid, immobile position that is held by a person for a considerate length of time--often days, weeks or longer.


	11. Resurrection

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Eleven

**Resurrection**

_There's moments in your life that make you, that set the course of who you're gonna be. Sometimes they're little, subtle moments. Sometimes, they're not.....Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're never ready for the big moments....._

-Whistler from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"-

Tangible silence.....

Then chaos of voices exploded around him. Questioning the impossible becoming possible. But he didn't hear exactly what they were yelling about because everything was bleeding together. Everything except for the only thing that his mind was registering. Where his vision was glued to. The empty coffin.....

It was true. It was all true. Everything that he felt and heard was true. Everything......

He felt his legs grow weak and collapsed to the ground. His eyes not once removing themselves from the emptiness that once he was positive occupied the body of his wife. _'How could this of happened?'_ Naruto meant the world to him. How could he not noticed that it wasn't him? That it wasn't the love of his life. Why didn't he see it? Why.....?

Sakura, through her own mixture of shock and hysterics, noticed that Sasuke collapsed. She quickly went over and bent down beside him. Calling out, "Sasuke-kun....." through her falling tears. When she received no response, she gripped his shoulders and shook him. "Sasuke-kun!" Her tears fell harder when Sasuke continued to stare at the empty coffin and not acknowledging that she was calling out to him. _'Come back, Sasuke-kun! Don't fall back into the darkness.....'_

After another moment of trying to shake him out of his trance, she did the irrational thing. She slapped him across his face. Hard. His head snapping to the side and breaking the contact his eyes had on the coffin. Which effectively snapped him back to reality. Though a reality he'd rather not face. But it appeared he would have no choice in the matter. He couldn't hide away from the painful reality. He had sons to find.....

So, ignoring the searing pain in his left cheek and sending a small glare at the pink haired woman, he stood and walked over to the distressed Hokage. Who was yelling at a couple of jounin that she summoned and giving orders to her assistant Shizune that had her own tears falling but was still scribbling down the commands.

"Tsunade-sama." he said with absolutely no emotion in his tone. There was nothing. Because if he did let a little emotion through, he knew that he would break down to smaller pieces than he already were. And he wasn't sure if he could pull himself back together enough to function.

The older woman turned around and was about to yell at whoever it was for interrupting her but when she saw the forced mask of the Uchiha, she stopped short. Her eyes softening considerably in a apologetic way. Her own forced facade blocking the pain and guilt she was being consumed with. "Sasuke...."

"Don't." he said shortly. "This isn't our only problem."

And with the way he said this, she knew that he was hurting badly. Because he reverted to the emotionless Anbu Captain that was famed for his highest success rate in missions. Where any other normal man, who just found out that his dead wife was still alive, would probably be rampaging right about now. But Sasuke was holding everything in. Which has been proven in the past not to be healthy for the Uchiha.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Remember I said that I heard Naruto when I was in whoever mind I was in." She nodded to acknowledge that he did say something along those lines. "Well, he warned me that I had to save my sons."

Tsunade startled, "Raiden and Kaze!" and she was just about to send the jounin's that she was previously yelling at before to quickly go to the Uchiha resistance. But Sasuke stopped her before she could utter a single command to the two. "No." he said curtly. "Apparently....." Pausing shortly, not really wanting to verbally confirm what he already knew. It would make everything more real. "......he was pregnant when all of this happened."

Complete silence followed throughout the area. The other occupants hearing clear as day what the raven said.

"P-Pregnant?" the blond repeated. Even if she didn't want to believe what he said. The hand around her heart still gripped tighter. Because after not believing him the first time and then proven wrong, she wasn't going to make the same mistake again. So now, everything he said was as good as gold.

He nodded, "Three boys."

Another slap, "Triplets." Her breathing was becoming slightly labored with all the shocks she was receiving in less than an hour. "Why didn't you mention this before."

"I wanted to make sure about this first."

She could understand that. They all thought he was crazy with just 'his wife was still alive' bit. She didn't want think what she would of thought if he added that he was pregnant too. She pulled out of her thoughts when he continued, "He said that their leverage soon won't be needed anymore."

"Meaning we have a limited time to find them. This changes everything....." she muttered as she crossed her arms under her large breasts. "Now we can't make it well known that the Rokudaime's death was faked. Or your children's lives could be at stake." She sighed dejectedly. No matter how badly she wanted to find Naruto, she knew that he wouldn't want her to risk his kids. So she turned and addressed Shizune, "Cancel all my orders, except for contacting the Kazekage. Inform him of what we discovered and nothing more. We can inform him of everything else once he arrives." _'Because if I know that brat. He'll be here within record time after reading the letter.'_

Another sigh escaped her mouth, trying to fight the tears that she knew were going to burst once she was alone. She never imagined that something like this could ever happen. Their village had the best Anbu Unit among the shinobi villages. And yet even with the best, they let this pass under their noises. Not realizing that something terrible was occurring.

Sasuke stared blankly passed the Godaime. He didn't just not want to search for Naruto, but he couldn't ignore what he asked of him either. He'll just have to find his sons fast, then he can concentrate on finding his wife. But there's absolutely no clues on where his sons could be. _'Wait...' _God he felt so stupid right about now. He practically had a transmitter to his wife in his house. "I'm going to my house. I want to know if the boy's awake." he informed Tsunade as he was already walking away.

"Sasuke!" Tsunade yelled after him. Slightly apprehensive about letting the raven near the younger blond. But before she could say anything else to the continuing walking Uchiha, he said over his shoulder, "Somehow he's link to Naruto. And maybe he might know where my sons are at?"

Tsunade knew that she wouldn't be able to stop the raven, so instead of trying she turned and ordered, "Kakashi and Sakura go with him. Make sure he does nothing harmful to the brat."

They both nodded and Sakura stood on shaky legs while Kakashi brought out his book to occupy his mind from his emotions and followed the determined Uchiha. With Sakura not too far behind.

* * *

Raiden was rooted to his spot as he stared at his mother in the middle of the living room with wide frighten eyes. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know if he _could_ think. All that was going through his mind was that his mother was standing in front of him and alive. Alive! The child in him wanted to run up and hug him but the aura surrounding him prevented him from doing so.

It wasn't the comforting warmth that used to surround his mother. The kind that made him feel safe and loved. No, this was the complete opposite. Cold and menacing. Everything about him seemed to be the opposite of who he used to be.

His once distinctive sapphire eyes were now pitch black. Even the sclera(1) were black. His complexion was paler than his father's with black veins showing through his skin in certain areas. His blond hair was now dull and lacked the sun-like resemblance it used to have. Blood was matted in his hair and dried blood was splattered over any skin that was exposed.

The clothes that he wore were all black. His loose cargo pants hung low on his hips, with combat boots overlaying the bottoms. The tight muscle shirt was covered with a leather trench coat. Three separate broad buckles crossed across his chest that kept the coat closed. Other buckles and straps hung or binded on his body. His hands wearing fingerless gloves with metal guards on the back of his hands.

Naruto took a step forward with a predatory glint in the blackness. Causing Raiden to instinctively take a step back from the danger that was trying to approach him.

The sadistic smirk grew, "What's wrong Raiden? Afraid of your own Kaa-san?"

He was scared. He never thought he would ever be scared of his mother. But right now that fear continued to pump through his veins with just looking at him. _'He's not my Kaa-san....' _he kept repeating over in his mind. Though repeating this only caused his brimming tears to fall silently. Because he knew the person standing in front of him was his Kaa-san but wasn't at the same time. And that's what hurt the most, like someone was stabbing him in his chest.

Raiden took more steps backward, prepared to run out of the living room. But as he turned to exit, he was stopped short when a figure in a dark cloak stood in the entryway. Blocking his escaped route. His body trembled and didn't ease even when he sensed that this new person was only a bunshin.

"Now, now...." began Naruto in amusement, "You weren't planning on running, were you?"

The young blond turned back around slowly, eying his mother fearfully. He knew that he stood no chance against his mother. He was the Rokudaime for god's sake. He had enough common sense to know when he was outmatched. And he was beyond outmatched. There was only a handful of people who stood a reasonable chance against him without losing within the first couple of minutes. And only one person who stood on even ground with him.

Too bad his father wasn't here at the moment. He would definitely feel a lot safer if he was. But since he wasn't......

"And here I just wanted a civil meeting with my......._precious_ family." His mocking tone sending chilling shivers down Raiden's spine. Then his back tensed when a voice from upstairs carried to his ears and his mother's ears. "Nii-san, is everything alright?!" her voice coming out worried and slightly nervous.

"Everything's fine!" he quickly yelled before his mother could speak. "Just stay up there!" The franticness he was trying to hold out of his voice, leaking out a little. _'Please stay up there....'_

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position. Ignoring the questions that were being directed at him from his pink haired teammate. His eyes stared at the comforter, the color of his orbs flashing between sapphire and violet as random images kept flashing before them. They appeared and disappeared so fast that he didn't have time to really get a good look at them.

But that didn't mean that Kyuubi wasn't.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and startled at the touch. Turning his head and following the pale arm to the owner of the limb. _'Sasuke....' _he mentally breathed out, visibly relaxing.

Sasuke moved the hand on the blond's shoulder and cupped his face. Tilting his head up so he could look directly at his continually flashing eyes. _'Damn it.'_ he cursed when he saw the violet repeatedly appear and disappear in the other's orbs. "Dobe what's going on? Why do your eyes keep changing colors?"

The blond could clearly hear the concern in the raven's voice. And that confused him slightly. He put it aside to think about it later when Kyuubi began speaking, _**'Tell your future husband--'**_ Which caused Naruto to blushed brightly. _**'--that a connection was somehow formed with yourself in this.....world.'**_

He opened his mouth to repeat what Kyuubi said but stopped when what was said repeated over in his mind. _'Wait, myself? Then what I was experiencing was me in my own body. Aren't I suppose to be dead here?' _

_**'Yup. Though you're not. And I'm not sure how the connection was formed. But it's you in this world that formed it.'**_

_'Then I betrayed everyone....'_ Remembering the things that he said while in the other's body.

_**'Hmmmm......I wouldn't go that far. From what I can tell from the images that keep flashing, you didn't betray anyone. I just have to piece together what happened. That might take a little time, though.'**_

Naruto physically nodded, forgetting about the two people staring at him intently for an answer. He zoned back in on reality and blushed even harder when he realized how close Sasuke really was to him. He pulled out of the hold that the raven had on his face and put some distance between them. By scooting closer to the wall to his left.

Leaning his back and head against the wall, he glanced back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura. Who upon seeing the blond's unusual quiet behavior, asked again, "Naruto, are you alright? You're acting strange....."

It was hard for him to concentrate on the present with everything that keeps popping up in his head. "Yeah, I'm fine.....maybe....." There was no enthusiasm behind what he said like usual. Which only had the kunoichi more concerned than before.

"Somehow a connection was made between me and this world's Naruto. So I keep seeing......things......" he explained to Sasuke's question.

"But..." began Sakura, "....the Naruto here is dead. Isn't he?" she questioned when she saw the expression on the raven's features. Whom's expression looked to be of complete contemplation. _'What's going on around here?' _

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a long moment. His thoughts running over what he said the night before. _'Then what he was saying was coming from the other Naruto.'_ Everything was becoming more fucked up. Now this world's Naruto isn't dead as everyone thought but seemingly alive and.....killing.

_**'Kit! We have a problem!' **_announced Kyuubi when he caught a particular image flashing by.

Naruto mentally whined, _'What else can go wrong?' _

_**'Try this world's Naruto being in the fucking living room with your future brat Raiden!' **_

His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Oh shit......" Immediately catching Sasuke's attention as he crawled off the bed and informed while doing so, "The other Naruto's down stairs with Raiden!"

"What!" Sakura exclaimed and then stuttered, "H-How c-c-can h-he--"

Naruto cut her off, "I don't know!" And without thinking, he said the one thing that he swore he would never tell anyone. "But that's what Kyuu said!" Then exited the room without giving either of them anytime to question who the hell Kyuu was.

_'Kyuu?'_ Sasuke repeated in his mind but otherwise remained silent. Frowning deeply as he quickly stood and followed Naruto out of the room. Sakura stood there for a few seconds, taking in deep breaths to calm her nerves that were sprouting before she too followed.

Just before they reached the top of the stairs, they saw Chidori standing there with her back to them and staring down the stairs. She turned around when she felt their presences behind her. Her features telling them that she knew something was wrong below them. "Something isn't right! There's someone else downstairs with Nii-san!" Someone that feels achingly familiar.

"Stay up here." Sasuke ordered as he silently made his way down the stairs first. Naruto right on his heels, saying over his shoulder, "Watch the younger ones." Sakura followed her two teammates with slight reluctance, giving Chidori a weak smile as she past. She had an extremely bad feeling about this.

That the person downstairs wasn't the same Naruto they know and love......

* * *

"Ahhh.....trying to be the protective older brother." Naruto said in a mocking tone before it went flat. "How cute." He purposely walked around the couch and toward Raiden in slow predatory steps. His empty yet powerful gaze caused the younger blond to take steps away from the other. So with each step Naruto took, Raiden took the same back.

Until Naruto got tired of the game they were unconsciously playing and in a flash stood in front of the boy. Causing said boy to stumble back a couple of steps. But before he could quickly put some much needed space, his arm was grabbed in a bruising grip and his body was lifted in the air by the same arm. He gasped loudly, then yelp when the searing pain coursed through his arm from the limb being pulled out of it's socket.

"You know." The older blond began calmly, "I didn't come here to hurt you kid."

This, of course, caused Raiden to mentally laugh, _'What do you think you're doing?' _he thought, as more tears fell from his eyes from the image that technically it was his mother that was hurting him.

"But you see, I'm bored with killing all these villages that have no one worth fighting and since I came to see your father and he doesn't appear to be here, I just have to amuse myself somehow until he comes home. Do you know what that means, _Raiden_?" His face by now only two inches away from the younger blond's and smirking like he just caught a mouse.

Raiden fought against the pain and opened his eyes. And using his Uchiha trait, he glared defiantly at his mother. Who quirked an eyebrow at the boy's spirit. But the eyebrow lowered and his smirk disappeared when he felt three presences trying to sneak up on his clone. "Do they think I'm an idiot?" he muttered to himself and without any care, he dropped Raiden to the floor.

He landed on the floor unceremoniously and clutched his throbbing arm. Watching his mother turn toward the entrance to the living room and cross his arms like he was waiting for someone to appear in the entry way. And to make sure he was only being paranoid and that wasn't what the other was waiting for, he extended his senses. Only to find, to his horror, that it was true. That the younger Team Seven was in the hall, stupidly thinking that they were undetected. _'Fuck.....'_

And he only cursed more when the living room filled up with clones of the younger Naruto. "No, don't fight him!" he screamed desperately, but it went unheard as the Naruto's attack the cloaked clone and his mother.

The latter simply sidestepped a clone and lazily poked him to dispose of him in a puff of smoke. The only recognition that he made about the similar appearances of the clone and himself was a raised eyebrow as he lifted his arm to block the kick from another clone and used his other hand to grab a clone's arm that aimed a kunai at him. He twisted his arm that blocked the kick so he could grabbed the clone's leg. And with a swirling motion, he threw the two clones at the others. Disposing quite a few when the two impacted with the ones they collided with.

This continued with the older Naruto barely moving from his spot and using little to no effort to dispose of--what he deemed right about now--the nuisances.

While this was happening, after the clone dispersed the Naruto clones that were dispatch to him, Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken at the clone. Which of course were dodged easily. He tsk-ed, not really surprised, and pulled out a kunai as he rushed the clone with his sharingan activated.

Naruto kept creating clones to attack his older self. But it wasn't doing any good. No matter how many he created, the other would merely dispose of them without even breaking a sweat. _'What to do? What to do?'_ he chanted over and over in his head as he watch the scene from the entry way.

He heard Kyuubi growl in his mind and felt the fox's anger rise the longer he kept his eyes on his older self. Which to him, he found slightly disturbing. With the way he looked and was acting.

_**'A parasite.' **_the fox sneered.

_'What?' _

_**'That's whats wrong with him. He's been infected with a fucking parasite!'**_

His brows furrowed at this. _'Parasite? Like in an illness?' _

_**'No. It's far from an illness. But I would never allow my Kit to remain infected....'**_ muttering the last sentence to himself mostly.

Naruto gazed at himself some more as he began to stand. _'At least I'm not _really_ doing this.....'_ And as he was in the middle of standing up straight, Sakura grabbed his arm, stopping his movements. "Naruto what are you doing?"

He turned partly to her face and grinned at her. "Something I always do. Something reckless!" And as she was about to say something to stop him, he yanked his arm out of her hold and ran into the living room. A clone appearing slightly behind him and helping him form a rasengan.

Sasuke crouched down to avoid the clone's flying fist and then flipped away to the side. Landing on his feet for only a second before having to flip away again when a fist hit the ground where he was standing a couple of seconds ago. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at the damage the clone made with his fist. _'That would of hurt.' _Was the last thing he thought before he was going to charge again. But that changed when he caught sight of Naruto heading into the living room._ 'What the fuck is he thinking?!' _

He already knew just from the older Naruto's aura that he was powerful. And frighteningly so. Even if the three of them and Raiden worked together against him, he had a sinking feeling that it still wouldn't be enough to be a match for him.

His momentary lack of focus gave the clone enough time to grab him by his ankle. Sweeping him off his feet and causing him to land on his back with a loud thud. His head swam with stars for a few seconds as he felt himself being lifted in the air. Without thinking over the sudden rush of blood to his throbbing head, he twisted his body and used his other leg that wasn't being held in the death grip to kick the clone in his cloaked face.

But that kick was blocked and somehow in this moment of struggle, the clone managed to miraculously bind his arms behind his back. _'How the hell?!'_ He struggled in an futile attempt to free his arms from the binds and his legs from the hold of the clone. But the only thing he managed to do was jerk his upper body around like a flopping fish out of water. _'Great. My ego just went down a few notches....' _

Sakura saw Sasuke's predicament and tried to come up with a plan in her mind. But if Sasuke couldn't beat him, then what made her think she could. She couldn't. She already knew this but maybe she could cause enough of a distraction so Sasuke could free himself. So with this new determination, she pulled out two kunai and latched herself forward at the clone. Which caused Sasuke, who stopped struggling a second ago, to raise a eyebrow at her stupidity.

When she got within a few feet, the clone merely kicked her to the side like she was a piece of trash not worth bothering with. She collided brutally with the wall, knocking the wind out of her body and some internal damage if the blood dripping down the side of her mouth said anything. But even with trying to regain her breath, she had a smile on her lips. Causing the clone to look down to the area that the pink haired kunoichi was grinning at.

And there, on his lower leg was a kunai embedded within it's flesh. No blood leaked out from the wound but it wasn't like she expected it to. Though what she expected didn't happen either.

A dark chuckle came from the clone. Maneuvering Sasuke's left leg to his right while the clone's left hand morphed into something larger to accommodate holding both ankles of the raven's. Who for some reason found the morphing process--to be frank--gross. And besides, isn't he suppose to be a clone. Are they even able to morph? And isn't he suppose to be a puff of smoke right about now?

But there wasn't any usual cloud of smoke and popping noise of a clone dispersing. And he would know. Being around and fighting with Naruto so much, you learn these kind of trademark noises. But that wasn't the case here. Nope, there was nothing. He was still present and dangling Sasuke upside down in the most humiliating way.

The clone bent his body slightly and pulled out the kunai from his leg. Sakura watched his movements with shock written all over her face. _'Wasn't he a clone? He feels like a clone. Then how can he still be here?'_ These things kept frantically running through her mind as the clone threw the kunai to the side and stated, "It will take more than that to get rid of me."

Meanwhile, Raiden watched the younger Naruto enter the living with a rasengan forming while he ran toward his mother. The latter was still getting rid of the nuisances that continued to come out of the wood work to attack him and then only getting themselves dispersed. It was merely a waste of chakra. And the damn things were just pathetic to begin with.

Raiden used his good arm that still remained securely in it's socket to reach down to pull out a kunai from his weapons pouch. Only to find that his weapons pouch wasn't attached to his leg. _'Fuck!' _he cursed in his mind. _'This is what I get for forgetting this ONE TIME to attach my weapons pouches and only bringing a damn kunai......How could I be so stupid.....' _

He glanced around for anything to throw at--_'God forgive me!'_--his mother. On normal circumstances he would never even think about attacking his mother. Unless they were training that is. He was raised to respect his parents, especially his mother. Because he was the person who gave birth to him and gave him life. And you do _not_ fuck with that.

But this wasn't normal circumstances. Hell, nothing about this whole thing is _normal_.

So here he was, looking for something sharp to throw at his once loving and caring mother. With the purest of intention on hurting him. Damn, he feels like the shitty-est of sons right about now. And he hasn't even thrown anything yet.

Naruto was getting closer to his older self and Raiden was becoming more desperate to find something that would work. Because if Naruto attack his mother, then there was a high possibility that the young blond was going to get himself killed. And he didn't think that would be good. _'Fuck it, just throw anything!' _

His hand immediately grabbed a lamp on a side table and threw it with his full strength and slightly off aim with his left hand. But what do you expect, he's right handed here.

Though it probably wouldn't of matter anyway. Because the older Naruto simply leaned to the side, easily missing the object as he lifted his leg and kicked another Naruto clone to oblivion. As he used his left arm to block oncoming attacks from the persistent clones, his right hand was forming a quarter of its original strength rasengan to counter the oncoming rasengan that the other thought he didn't take notice of.

The chakra that he was gathering was a darker shade than the younger one's, with pure black specks swirling in the depths of the chakra.

Raiden watched with widened eyes as his mother effortlessly turned, while using his own rasengan to diminish the clones around him and blocked the younger Naruto's rasengan with his own. The both balls of chakra clashing against each other, sending waves of energy throughout the room. Which caused everything around them to fly away from them and crash into walls or anything in there path. Including Raiden and whatever clones that didn't get dispersed, though they were dispersed now.

The younger Naruto gritted his teeth against the force of the other's rasengan. Using all his strength to keep his ground, but he could feel himself weakening from the strain. His eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the other Naruto through the clashing chakra. He looked like he wasn't using any effort at all against his. Was he that much more powerful than he is now?

Older Naruto's lip upturned into a smirk as he stared at the younger blond. The one that has been aggravating him with his bloody clones. He brought his hand holding the rasengan back slightly, which resulted in the younger Naruto to fall forward too with a startled yelp.

Before the younger Naruto could figure out what was going on, the older one slammed his rasengan into the other's with more force than before. Sending the unsuspecting younger blond soaring across the living room and plummeting through the far wall. Violently stopping and destroying the first few steps of the stairs and a large chunk of the wall located by them.

"Naruto!!" yelled Sakura from the hold of the clone. Kicking and hitting desperately at him to let her go, so she could go to her blond teammate.

Sasuke remained still, watching intently for any movements from Naruto. But non came. His heart beat erratically as he checked to see if his chakra signature was still there and when he felt it, he let out the breath he was holding and the hold around his heart lessened. Though that didn't lessen his anger that was threatening to boil over.

This anger at the person who inflicted so much damage that it caused the most stubborn person to fall into unconsciousness.

* * *

Chidori visibly jumped from the sudden thud from downstairs. And her concern mixed with fear doubled when she heard Sakura yell for her younger mother.

"Nee-chan, what's happening?" came a small voice from behind her. She whipped around and saw that Kaze was standing there, looking at her with his large sapphire eyes. Fear clearly seen within their depths at seeing his sister's distress at whatever was going on downstairs.

In hurried steps, she approached Kaze and swept him up in her arms. Then quickly headed down the hall and turned the corner to another hall that held the door to her room.

Sora and Umi were standing just outside of Chidori's room. Both girls clutching to each other and to Popochi in Umi's left arm from the fright of that night, where those three shinobi attacked, repeating all over again. Even with being so young, they knew that the person downstairs was someone they needed to be afraid of.

"Onee-chan...." whined Umi when she saw her sister coming down the hall and toward them. Sora became more scared when she saw her older sister's state. Her teeth getting new vigor at biting her lip and causing some blood to leak into her mouth from the wound that her teeth caused.

Once Chidori reached her younger sisters, she order in a distraught manner, "Hurry, get in the room!"

The soft padding of hurried footsteps echoed slightly in the hall as the two obeyed their sister without question and scurried in the room with her right behind them. Chidori placed Kaze back on his feet and ran over to her dresser. Snatching her weapons pouches from the surface before she went back to the open door. She turned halfway around and addressed her younger siblings in a, as much as she could force it, stern voice. "Do not leave this room!"

And with that said, she closed the door behind her once she was outside. And to make sure they couldn't leave, she formed hand seals and sealed the door shut.

_'Please let them be safe while I'm not here.'_ she prayed in her mind as she made her way back down the hall while attaching her weapons pouches to her being. Her breathing was heavy from the adrenaline pumping through her fear induced veins.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she had to take in several deep breaths to hopefully slow her rapid heartbeat. But that hope died when it did nothing but stall time. She willed her leg to take a step down the stairs and then another. She didn't want to see who this person was with this aura. It felt so familiar but so off that she couldn't place where she felt it before.

But the one thing she did know, the one thing that was causing most of her fear, was that this person was someone that once felt important to her. Someone that felt like she hasn't seen in awhile. And she didn't want to see this person attacking them, because it would cause more pain than what she wanted to feel.

* * *

The clone walked with heavy steps into the living room with Sasuke and Sakura still within it's grasp. The latter of the two struggling to break free with all her might. While the former tried his best to remain calm and form hand seals behind his back. Though this task was no easy feat with his arms tightly binded. _'Two more seals....' _

But Sakura struggles suddenly stopped, effectively catching the raven's attention. He glanced in her direction and saw her eyes glued and her mouth hanging open to something in front of her. So, following her line of vision, he realized what she was gaping at. The person he almost forgot about.

His eyes widened as he took in the older Naruto's appearance. _'Was that really Naruto?' _he asked himself in disbelieve. Could he actually be the same person as his dobe? He couldn't believe it. Or he just didn't want to.

Because the person standing there had resemblances to Naruto but the chilling maliciousness radiating off of him was definitely not the blond. _'What's happened to him?'_ It was like a completely different person was standing before them. It wasn't Naruto......and unexpectedly that knowledge struck his heart in a painful way. That something went terribly wrong a couple of years ago in this time and he knew that this Naruto......All of this was his fault in one form or another. Maybe it wasn't currently his fault right now, but with his older self.

It _was_ the other Sasuke's fault.

The older Naruto eyed the two younger members of Team Seven with an intense gaze. Like he was scrutinizing them. He took his steps slowly toward the two captives. His eyes now not moving between the two, but remaining on Sasuke. Who bravely met his gaze with the infamous Uchiha glare. It was an impressive glare for someone who was hanging upside down with his shirt obscuring some of his face.

He stopped when he was a couple of feet from his clone and lifted his hand lazily. Moving his index finger in a circular motion to tell the clone to switch the boy's position. And as an obedient clone that he was, he did as he was told. Switching Sasuke from hanging upside down to the right side up.

Sasuke's head throbbed from the long period of blood rushing to his head. And his arms were now aching from his own weight hanging by the rope that were binding his arms. But with this continuous discomfort, his glare didn't falter.

Naruto leaned forward and tilted his head to the side to take in all of Sasuke's features. "Hmn. Interesting. You're not one of the kids. But you're an Uchiha. More specifically you're Uchiha Sasuke. Though not the one that I want. Interesting indeed....."

"Get away from them Kaa-san." said Raiden with his sharingan activated.

This caused Naruto to cock his head toward the boy with a lifted eyebrow. And as he straightened up, he said with annoyance lacing his tone. "Kaa-san, Kaa-san, Kaa-san.....If you haven't noticed brat, I'm not your Kaa-san." And in a flash he formed a series of hand seals, resulting in what looked like tree limbs sprouting from the ground and wrapping around Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura yelped from the limbs encasing her lower half of her body and from her arms being secured in an odd fashion. Sasuke struggled slightly but it was no use with his arms still bound behind him. His legs and half of his body were already encased within the tree limbs. Though, he was cursing colorfully since now his plan was shot to a woodland hell. And here he was almost done with the final hand seal._ 'Dammit.....' _

Once the older blond found that there was no more use for his clone, he took his chakra back from it. Resulting in the artificial being disappearing.

Raiden's leg was also encased with a tree limb, immobilizing him. He used his good arm to try and pry the wood from his leg. But the damn thing wouldn't budge. He looked back up at his mother and a frightened shiver went down his spine at the strange glint within the other's blackened eyes.

When he was standing in front of Raiden, he stated in matter of fact way, "You know, it's hard to do anything with only one arm." He grabbed Raiden's injured arm. Causing the younger blond to wince in pain that shot through it. His sharingan adorned eyes widened when he realized what the other was planning on doing.

"Why don't I help you with that." was the only warning Raiden received before his mother popped his shoulder roughly back into it's socket.

He yelled out in pain as his body involuntarily hunched forward. Tears stinging and leaking out of his eyes while he took deep breaths to hopefully help him endure the pain racking through his shoulder.

Naruto gripped the younger boy's chin and lifted it so they were both face to face. "Now how's that? Better?" When he only received a glare in response, he smirked sadistically. "I wonder how it would feel if I re-dislocate it and pop it back in again?" Raiden paled a couple of shades with this said. "What do you think? Think it'd feel good? Let's find out." His hand that was still on his searing arm, tightened it's grip again.

Sasuke, with renewed determination, began to struggle against the hold of the tree limbs. His instincts kicking up a storm to protect Raiden. This Naruto was going to torture him.

His own son.

He mentally smacked himself to remind himself that this wasn't really Naruto. It couldn't really be him. _'Naruto's not like this.' _

Raiden clenched his eyes shut and waited for the pain that he knew would come with dislocating a shoulder. There was absolutely nothing he could do to get out of this situation. His mother's strength was stronger than his. Much stronger.

He sucked in a sudden breath when Naruto twisted his arm. _'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.....'_ he chanted in his mind. But when nothing else came, just his mother taking his hand off his arm. This action caused him to open his eyes and take a glance at him. Only to glance at whatever he was looking at. _'No...'_

Chidori was cowered down by the younger unconscious Naruto. Her arms clutched against her chest as her eyes stared at her mother through the destroyed section of wall. Unadulterated fear and panic clearly on her features. _'Kaa-san....How? How can Kaa-san.....Kaa-san.....'_ Her lip was quivering uncontrollably with tears flowing from her onyx eyes.

Pitch blacked eyes stared at her with no emotion in their depths. _'That isn't Kaa-san.....' _she thought brokenly with a sob following. _'That isn't Kaa-san....' _

As Naruto took steps toward the hysterical raven, Raiden yelled almost in his own hysterics, "Stay away from her Kaa-san! You want to torture someone, torture me! Just stay away from her!" _'Stay away.....' _He promised......He promised his real mother at his funeral--even if the body wasn't his mother's, he made the promise _to_ his mother--that he would protect his siblings no matter what. That something like this wouldn't happen again. That he wouldn't lose anyone else. Not his family.

Naruto's features, just like his eyes, showed no emotion as he stopped near the crying young girl. The three in the living room with their stares at his back. But instead of fucking with the girl his eyes averted in the direction of the front door with a smirk forming. _'Bout time.'_ he thought as the front door burst open and three figures came rushing into the house. Though those figures only froze in their steps when he turned around to face them.

His tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked his lips. Saying as he locked his blackness with shocked onyx.....

"Uchiha Sasuke......"

* * *

1)**Sclera**-The white parts of the eyeball.


	12. Reflected Glass of Dark Souls

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twelve

**Reflected Glass of Dark Souls**

_A blond male stood in front of the kitchen's sink with his hands in a sink full of hot water. Pulling out a pan he used earlier in the morning to cook breakfast and scrubbed the surface clean of any food residue. His ears listening to the blissful noises coming from four of his children sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast._

_He moved the soapy pan underneath the running water on the other side of the sink. Moving it around to throughly rinse the pan of the suds from it's metal surface. Once done, he placed it in the strainer to let it dry and proceeded on with the rest of the dishes. _

_When he was done washing the last dish--well last until his children were done--he dried his hands on his dish rag and turned toward the kitchen table. A gentle smile forming as he gazed at his children. He walked over to the table and before he even got to one of the chairs, his four year old son ran up and attached himself to his leg. _

"_Mommy!" the young boy yelled up at his mother. "Sora's being mean again!" _

"_Am not!" came the immediate reply from his twin sister, who was still sitting at the table with an angry pout on her innocent features._

_The blond man, also known as Uchiha Naruto--A.K.A Rokudaime of Konoha, looked down at his son and chuckled at the two's usual antics. He detached the boy from his leg and picked his up into his arms. "Will you two ever get along without bickering?" _

_His answer came with Kaze sticking his tongue out at his sister. The latter doing the same in the next second. The two's actions caused Naruto to sigh as he swung Kaze over the back of the chair and sat him down. Upon being seated, he grabbed his chopsticks and made an attempt to grab some rice from his rice bowl. _

_Naruto moved over to his three year old daughter and looked at her food covered face. "Umi....it looks like you got more on yourself than in your mouth." This statement caused the blond girl to giggle. "Fun to play with." she said while she squished a piece of her omelet in her hand. Then offered the same hand out to him. "Want some?" _

_He chuckled softly, "No sweetie. But thank you for asking." He kissed her on her forehead while his hand grabbed a napkin from the table. Saying as he cleaned her face, "But why don't we use your fork to actually get some food into that adorable mouth of yours, hmmm....." This caused her to giggle again as she reached forward with her still messy hand and grabbed the metal utensil on the table. _

_She glanced down at her stuff fox that was sitting by her kitchen chair. "Can Popochi have some too?" she asked in the most adorable voice. Naruto grabbed her other hand that wasn't holding the fork and began rubbing the limb clean of spare food. "You don't want him to become dirty, do you? Then he'll have to go into the laundry monster." his tone changing to a playful gruff sound as he said the last two words._

_Umi gasp and vigorously shook his head. "No!" He smiled down at her large sapphires while he grabbed her other hand with the fork. Taking the fork out of her hand and cleaning it. As he continued to clean the dirtied hand, his eight year old daughter asked, "Isn't Tou-san coming home today?" Sticking a slice of her omelet within her mouth._

_Naruto's smile turned into a full fledge grin, "Yup! He should be home before lunch!"_

"_Yay! I can't wait to see daddy!" exclaimed Sora as she flung her arms into the air. Flinging food from her chopsticks in the process. She glanced over at the food that practically flew across the room. "Whoops......sorry mommy......" she apologized with a quiver of her lip. Her eyes tearing up at the mess she caused._

_Naruto was just about to console his daughter. To tell her that it wasn't something that she needed to be sorry about. Everyone makes messes, it wasn't something that she needed to cry over. But he never got the chance, because his youngest thought it would be better to throw a handful of rice at her sister._

_Kaze burst out into a fit of laughter at his shocked twin that now had rice sticking to her face. Chidori was biting her lip in an attempt to keep her giggles in but she was quickly failing. Even Naruto was trying to suppress a grin._

"_Umi!" yelled Sora, now out of her stunned silence. Said yelled name, tilted her head to side in a manner of confusion. Then smiled, "Now Nee-chan isn't sad! I made mess too!"_

_Sora blinked at the reason why her younger sister threw food at her. And this was also the reason why she couldn't really be mad at her. Though her eyes narrowed when they landed on the still laughing brother of hers. A smile formed as her hand crept toward her fish. _

_But unlucky for her, Naruto noticed her movements and knew what her actions would be next. Which would cause an all out food fight in his kitchen. Oh nononono......he's the one has to clean it up afterwards. So he might as well stop it before it even begins. Because once it starts, it's hell to stop it. And trust him, he knew. This house has seen many food fights before. A couple of them could even be considered wars. _

_So, before Sora could throw some of her breakfast at her brother, he quickly went around the table and grabbed the arm that held the food. "Nuh uhh......no throwing food at your brother."_

"_But Mommy....." she whined while turning her head upward. Kaze's emotions instantly switched from humor to shock that his sister was going to throw food at him. "See mommy--" he began as he pointed his finger blatantly at his twin. "--she is mean!" _

_Sora's arm twitched in his arm to throw that food still located in her hand. "Ack.....no." he said while he lowered his other hand under the one he was holding. "Give me the fish." he ordered as his daughter began to pout. Her eyes going wide and forming the puppy dog weapon. But he only focused on the hand he was trying to receive the fish from and ignored the adorable look. _

"_Now." his voice going to the stern I'm not kidding tone. Which caused the young girl to open her hand and drop the mushed fish pieces into his own hand. 'Gosh....' he thought just before he said in a softer tone, "Thank you, sweetie." and kissed the top of her head. "And I better not catch you trying to throw anything else. At least for today." Adding the last sentence mostly as an afterthought. _

_He leaned across the table and grabbed a napkin. "And no throwing anything from you either." he said to the boy across the table. Cleaning off her hand just in case she decided to just go smear her hand on her brother. Yes, that would probably be something she would do._

_Chidori sighed as her mother went to the kitchen sink. Thankful that she didn't have to wash any food out of her hair today. You would never know how hard it would be to wash mash potatoes out of your hair until you got some caked in with several other foods she wouldn't be able to identify. _

_As Naruto was stationed at the sink, washing his hand clean of chucks of fish and oil, a loud thud came from upstairs. The obvious sign that his fifth child decided to get up. _

_Several thuds followed the first and yells of, "I'm late!" before his twelve year old son stumbled into the kitchen, yelling, "Kaa-san why didn't you wake me?!"_

_He shrugged his shoulders. "I tried but you weren't budging. You would of gotten up eventually." Turning around and leaning up against the counter to stare at his son. "This hopefully will teach you to wake up when it goes off or at least not kill it for going off."_

_Raiden stumbled a couple more times while tying his weapon pouches to his legs. A half attempted dirty look directed at his mother. "Kaa-san......my hand's on an automatic impulse to smash it to bits every time it goes off. I have no control over it."_

_Naruto rolled his eyes as he watched his son run over to the table. Though he didn't sit, he grabbed his cup of juice and chugged it down like he hadn't had anything to drink for days. Then ate every piece of food that was placed in his setting in record time. Such a fast consumption caused all eyes to turn to him. But he ignored them or just didn't take notice, as he let out a deep breath after he was done and ran over to Naruto. _

_He swung in arms around Naruto's torso, "Bye Kaa-san!" And Naruto didn't even have time to hug back because the next moment he was running out of the kitchen, yelling over his shoulder, "I'll be home before dinner!" _

_The kitchen remained in stunned silence for a couple of seconds before the noise started up again. Naruto had to blink, wondering if he even saw his son in the first place. It happened so fast. Raiden was only in here for what......four minutes, tops. He sighed and shook his head, 'Why do they have to grow up?' _

_He was brought out of his daze when Chidori got up from her position. Stacking her dishes on top of each other so she could carry them easier. "Chi, don't worry about those, I'll get them. You don't want to be late like your brother."_

_She hesitated a second before silently agreeing with her mother. She left her dirtied dishes where they lay and skipped over to him, giving him a tight hug. This time he had time to return the hug to his child. Her head lifted and lengthened her height by standing on her tippy toes. Naruto leaned down and they both pecked each other on the cheek at the same time. "Bye Kaa-san!" _

"_Bye honey! I'll see you when you get home!" She nodded curtly and spun on her heels. Heading toward the exit of the kitchen when her mother reminded from behind her. "Don't forget your weapon pouches. They're in the living room. Oh and try not to stay out too late because your father is getting home today. I would think he would like to see all of his children. And if you run into Raiden can you tell him the same thing." 'Since he wasn't here long enough for me to tell him....' _

"_Hai!" she agreed before as she exited the kitchen/dining room. Once she grabbed her things from the living room she yelled toward the kitchen, "Bye!"_

"_Have a nice day!" Naruto yelled back before he knew she left the house. He turned to his other three children and said while he approached the table, "Alright you three, lets get you guys cleaned and dressed!" the twins immediately jumped out of their chairs and raced upstairs. While Umi carefully slid off her chair and grabbed Popochi. Making sure she kept it from her dirtied body as she ran over to her mother. Her short angelic blond hair bouncing as she did so. "Mommy! Protect Popochi please!" she said as she lifted her stuffed animal toward her mother._

_The latter smiled and gently grabbed the fox. "Of course sweetie. Now come on, we might want to get up there before your brother and sister try and kill each other." This caused the younger girl to giggle and run out of the kitchen in the most adorable fashion. _

_His smile grew as he followed the small girl upstairs. Even with some rough bumps throughout his life. He thought that it was completely worth it, just to have his family that he loved. And it will be complete once again when his husband gets home._

_Once all three kids had their baths and were properly dressed, he dropped them off at the daycare center and returned home. Since he took a day off from his Hokage duties, he decided to clean the house before Sasuke got home. Starting with the kitchen by washing the remaining dirty dishes. _

_Soft music played in the background from the radio stationed in the corner of the counter. Giving the blond something to move to as his hands cleaned the bowl that was currently in his hand. As he was rinsing the bowl of the suds, two unfamiliar chakra signatures appeared in his house. Chakra signatures that appeared right in the entryway to the kitchen. Which caused Naruto to drop the bowl in the sink and swirl around. Two men meeting his vision._

_They both wore the same outfit. Black pants with black boots, a black jacket that overlapped in the front because the piece of clothing was buttoned closed. A simple red design decorated the front of the jacket and ran up to the wearers neck then behind. One of the men had long green hair that was tied into a pony tail at the nape of his neck and glasses adorned his face. While the other was a spiky brunette with beads connected to several chucks of hair. Tattoos decorated the side of his eyes and ran down his cheeks._

_The brunette's smirk parted, his lips greeting, "Hello, Naruto-sama.....We've come to collect you."_

* * *

Naruto's face showed a feral grin as his black depths stared at the older Sasuke in a predatory manner. "Uchiha Sasuke. Just the person I wanted to see."

A gasp resounded through the area that was accompanied with a book hitting the ground. But these noises went unnoticed by Sasuke. Who was rooted to where he was standing. His mind temporary stalled from the shock of seeing his--just recently discovered not dead--wife standing mere feet from him. It was one thing to find out that he was still alive but it was a complete other thing to see him in the flesh. To see what he's done.

He stared into--not his unique sapphire that he'd do anything to gaze upon again--but a blackness that held no light within. He didn't have to look at the rest of him to know that this wasn't _really_ Naruto. That this person wearing his wife's skin wasn't really his wife at all.

And god, it hurt.

This suffocating pain was causing everything to blur together. Everything was blurring except for his wife. His image in front of him was perfectly clear. "Naruto...." his lips whispered without knowledge of them even moving. And even if he knew that whoever was in control wasn't his wife, the body was. And there was enough of his dobe showing through that he couldn't help but to focus on those things.

The grin on the blond's features only widened when he heard the name from the raven's mouth. "Naruto? Well......you only got half of that right." Then he walked back into the living room. Sasuke's eyes unconsciously followed his figure moving and his feet moved also. Taking steps sideways and entering into the living room from the other entryway.

"But I think it's obvious which half isn't!" said Naruto loud enough so that everyone would hear. His small steps within the living room bringing him to stand in front of the younger versions of Sakura and Sasuke.

Once Naruto was in the living room, older Sakura quickly went to the crying Chidori and unconscious Naruto. She was using all of her will to keep her raging emotions under some kind of reasonable control. Though even with her will fighting desperately, her tears continued to run down her cheeks. She couldn't stop them and part of her didn't want to. She wanted to cry until she couldn't anymore. Because she was a part of the fatal mistake that the whole village committed.

She kneeled down by the unconscious Naruto. Her eyes landing on Chidori to quickly check to see if she was injured. When she didn't notice any visible injuries she concentrated on Naruto. Her hand began to glow green as she filled it with healing chakra. Lowing the limb close to the younger boy and once she was only an inch away from his cloth covered skin, she slipped a little of her chakra into him. But a second later her chakra was rejected and Kyuubi's chakra extended and burned her hand.

A painful gasp escaped her mouth as she jerked her hand away fast._ 'What the.....Why did Kyuubi do that?' _Sending more healing chakra to her hand to heal the chakra burns that formed.

Meanwhile, Kakashi followed Sasuke's route into the living room. His book staying on the floor, forgotten, as his only visible eye stayed locked onto the older Naruto's form. His student that he helped train and watch grow. To see him turned into this, shocked him to the core. "Who did this to you?" he heard himself ask.

Naruto's eyebrow lifted at the question, "What? Don't like the upgrade?" The sinister expression gracing his features causing a chill to run down Kakashi's spine. He always knew that Naruto could produce a very convincing cold facade when he was performing his duties as an Anbu member but this was something else. This was real. There was no energized and happy blond underneath the coldness.

Raiden kept his throbbing arm from moving as he glanced back and forth between his parents. _'Not good, not good, not good....' _he chanted over and over in his mind when he saw his father's blank expression. Which only meant that he was holding everything inside. Trying to ignore his emotions that the younger boy knew were occurring with his mother's presence. His lip was positioned between his teeth, worriedly biting the piece of flesh. Not stopping even when he tasted blood in his mouth.

"I think it's an improvement. No conscious to get in your way. No feelings of remorse, guilt......" he cocked his head toward the older Sasuke and smirk wickedly, ".......love. Non of those pathetic weaknesses that this body used to have." His face morphed into something that was disgusted by something as he muttered, "It makes me nauseous every time it's necessary to go through his memories."

Younger Sasuke watched the group with mild interest. Not bothering to struggle unlike his female teammate who didn't seem to understand that they weren't getting loose unless the older Naruto wanted them to. He just merely ignored her occasional whimper, because he wanted to see the interaction between his older self and the other Naruto. It might sound a little weird but he wanted to know what kind of actions the other would take against his 'wife'. Wondering if that Sasuke really cares for Naruto. If he really loves him......

Kakashi's brow furrowed when he let what the blond said settle in his head. "If you're not really Naruto, then who are you?" he asked as he discreetly moved closer to Raiden.

Naruto gave the movement of rolling his eyes. "If you want to go to the brat then go." Snapping his fingers and releasing the binds only on Raiden and not the other two's. "I already had a little fun. Not much......but enough to amuse me a little. And to answer your question, they call me Iida. So stop calling me that idiot's name." His tone falling flat as he said the last sentence.

Older Sasuke growled loudly at the blond and in the next second he was slamming Naruto up against the far wall. His hand gripped around his throat and putting pressure, cutting off his way to breath slightly. "Don't you fucking dare call him that again. You have no right." he sneered, forgetting momentary through his anger that it was actually Naruto that said it.

An eyebrow lifted on the blond's face, "No right you say? Maybe I should call you the idiot then." His voice lowering to a whisper as he continued, "Because if I remember right, you're the first that fell for something like that body presented to you. Falling for that trick, you have no idea what you committed this body to go through."

The raven's hand unconsciously loosened enough where Naruto could pull the hand away. But instead of letting it go, he tightened his grip and pulled him closer to his being. He leaned close to the raven's ear and whispered in a husky tone. "The things to ensure that his consciousness is buried and replaced with mine. It must suck to know that you're responsible for what happened to him." He licked the shell of his ear, sending shivers down Sasuke's spine at the intimate touch. "You must feel so proud."

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to move. The things he was saying were preventing from doing so. Even when he felt the other's lips press against his, no movement was made. Naruto's lips moved sensually against Sasuke's. His eyes remaining open and staring directly into unblinking onyx.

Then Naruto changed there positions. Now with Sasuke was against the wall while Naruto was in front of him with his hands on either side of raven's head. "You know, this is what I find so interesting. That even if I'm the dominate one, this body still reacts to you. YOU." he growled out the last word as his nails dug into the wall. "It's sickening to know that YOU can cause a reaction out of this body that isn't because _I_ want it to. And that my _dear_ is one of the reasons why I want to kill you. To cut that--" grabbing the raven's chin and shaking it a little. "--pretty face of your's to bits. Then we'll see what kind of _reaction_ I'll get."

A long moment of silence followed this threat. Naruto waiting, wondering if what he said would instigate some kind of violence. But when nothing did, only continued silence from the raven, he tilted his head sideways. "What, are you broken?" And he poke him in the chest to see if that would cause some kind of response.

Raiden stood by his Uncle, his breathing becoming heavy with dread mixed with worry when he heard the question. Kakashi glanced over at Sakura, who was now moving slowly toward them. Her teary eyes wearily staying on the back of Naruto.

The latter didn't care what the woman was doing, so he didn't bother to acknowledge her. Instead he lightly tapped the raven on the chest. "Oi! It's kind of hard to fight someone when they're not going to fight back. I might as well go massacre another village if you're going to remain like this. And that's saying something--" he was abruptly cut off by Sasuke's hand covering his mouth firmly. "Be quiet. I don't want to hear you." _'I can't hear you say those things with his voice.' _"Is that what you want? To fight me?"

He slapped the hand away from his face. "That's why I'm here. I want a challenge and from what I get from these memories is that you're the only one that was evenly matched with this bodies abilities. So I want to have a little fun instead of just boring killing."

"I'll give you anything you want." _'I always have.' _

Naruto's grin returned full force as he leaned forward and rubbed his body on the other's in a seductive way. "I know. Why do you think they chose him."

Sakura reached Kakashi and Raiden and immediately went to the latter of the two. Her tears were dried up for the time being but she knew if at any point she let them out again, she wouldn't be able to stop. So she continued to take deep breaths in and out to keep herself reasonably calm.

She placed her glowing green hand over the afflicted area. Which happened to his arm. Before she healed his arm, she glanced at his face staring fearfully at his mother near his father. She could tell that he was battling with himself to either protect his father--which would result in him harming his mother--or stand to the side and let his father deal with the situation. But that has its own consequences too.

Her head moved on it's own accord and turned toward the once married and loving couple. Her lip quivered uncontrollably as she watched the difference of her best friend. Her breath became uneven and tears began to brim her eyes. She closed her eyes tightly, a couple of tears leaking out. But she wanted to block out the image, wanted to block out that this was even happening.

The only time she reopened her eyes was when she was back facing Raiden. She regained her deep breathing and steady her hand to heal his arm. Knowing that wishful thinking doesn't ever do anything.

The blond's comment rang through Sasuke's head, causing his eyes to flash to his sharingan. His anger rapidly becoming dominant over his other emotions. "Who?!" he yelled as he shoved the blond back and gripped his shoulders. "Who are _they_?!" His grip tightening and giving a small shake. "Who did this to you?!" _'Who took you away from me......?'_

The blond rolled his eyes, "Who, who, who. Why, why, why......." he said in a patronizing way. Then brought his arms up and shoved the other's off of his own. His mouth saying as he did so, "God, you people are infuriating!" Turning around and strolling to the middle of the living room. "I have NO interest in answering your questions! I didn't go against there orders to be bothered in doing _that_! So let's stop playing this damn game! It's starting to irritate me! What do you say Uchiha? Are you going to--" His mouth instantly shut when he felt a sudden chakra burst. Chakra that actually sent a shiver of fear through him. _'Shit.....'_

And the next thing that he knew, he was being thrown by orange-red chakra. Sending him crashing violently into the wall near Raiden, Kakashi and Sakura. The intact of his body with the wall caused a crater of a radius of four feet to form with several cracks protruding further out. He barely landed back on his feet without falling completely on his face. But with only a couple of stumbles be managed.

He lifted his head up. His eyes formed into a dead glare as his mouth involuntarily snared at the threatening other. "Kyuubi....." he growled out.

The younger Naruto stood on the other side of the room with his arms crossed across his chest and a fox grin on his features. "I'm was beginning to wonder if you ever shut up, you disgusting lowlife." he also growled but with more venom put into his words.

Older Sasuke glanced between the two Naruto's. His anger still boiling beneath the surface, though it mixed back with the rest of his other emotions that were going wild. But this was just something else. Another thing he would have to take care of. He didn't know how much more he can take. If any. It was too much to deal with in one day. Too much......

Why did all this have to happen?

Why......?

_

* * *

_

Sasuke walked in slightly hurried steps up the stone path toward his front door. He just couldn't wait to see his family after almost two months of being away. Though he knew that all his kids were either at training or daycare by now but at least he could see his wife. Because from what Shikamaru told him, his dobe took the day off for reasons that he already knew he would arrive home today.

_A smirked formed on his features when he thought about everything that he planned to do with his dobe. No matter how tired he was, he always seemed to regain new energy whenever his naked wife was involved. _

_Once he arrived at his door, he opened it and walked in. Taking off his shoes before stepping out of the alcove. "Dobe!" he called out when he didn't automatically get jumped by a head of blond. But there was no response. He walked to the left and soon entered the living room. His ears picking up the sound of running water. "Naruto!" he called out again. Thinking maybe he didn't notice that he arrived home. But that was quite unusual. _

_He stepped into the kitchen and his eyes immediately landed on the sink. Where water was continually pouring in a heavy stream. His brows furrowed as he went over and turned the water off. He turned around and leaned against the counter, folding his arms over his chest as he scanned the kitchen with his eyes. Two knocked over kitchen chairs caught his attention. Which he found kind of odd. There were certain items that his wife was a little more anal about them being in there places. And for some reason, the kitchen chairs were one of them. _

_His body pushed off from the counter while his arms unconsciously unfolded. Taking regular steps toward the knocked over chairs. But his steps stopped when he heard something crunch underneath his foot. He looked down and saw that it was the sugar container. The glass jar shattered in many pieces with the sugar spilled all over the floor. _

_The beat of his heart increased when things began to connect together in a negative way. He rushed out of the living room and yelled loud enough that it could be heard anywhere in the house, "Naruto!" Once again there was no response. Which made the paranoid side of him spike another notch. _

_He climb the stairs two at a time. Halfway up, his nose was assaulted with the all too familiar scent of blood. 'Oh god, no.....' he pleaded in his mind as he made it to the second floor. He quickly checked each of his children's rooms. Each one coming up empty with nothing wrong with them._

_Now he currently stood in front of his closed bedroom door. His body hesitating from entering, having the sinking feeling that what was behind the door wasn't something that he wanted to see. That his wife was behind this door. His dobe......_

_He lifted his hand. The limb shaking uncontrollably as it neared the metal knob. 'I'm just being paranoid! Right! Naruto's fine! He's fine, he's fine, he's fine.....' he kept repeating the last part over and over in his mind. Trying to convince himself that Naruto was off somewhere else, doing something that came up at the last minute. 'Yes, that's what happened. He's not home, he's just somewhere else. Probably with Sakura......' _

_Hoping to regain his composure, he took a deep breath in and released it after holding it for a couple of seconds. He gripped the knob in a grip that turned his knuckles white and slowly turned the knob. _

_Time seemed to slow down as he swung the door open and took only two steps within the room before he froze. His arm falling from the door knob like dead weight. His hearing failing him when no sound came to them. Not his frantically beating heart. Not his irregular breathing that he found so hard to continue on inhaling and exhaling._

_Blood was everywhere. Smeared on the walls, furniture and other items that were knock over or still in there respected spots. There also were puddles of blood on the floor, but around and on the bed was where most of the blood was located. This large piece of furniture where those glazed blues were staring back at the raven. Those blues that held nothing in their depths. Nothing....._

_Absolutely nothing....._

_No emotion passed over Sasuke's face. His blank stare that bore into dull blues desperately tried to find something in there. Any kind of indication that his dobe was still there. That he wasn't......_

_His foot took an unconscious step forward. Though Sasuke didn't even feel himself move. There was nothing, just like those eyes, nothing was running through him. Another step was taken and then another, until he was standing by the bedside. The fact that his feet were standing in his wife's blood didn't even register to him._

_No, the only thing that registered were those eyes dully staring back at him. _

_A long moment past before his hand slowly lifted, like it was being weighted down by an invisible force. The shaky limb hovered over the deathly pale skin of his lover's cheek. He tentatively touched the skin, the coldness of the flesh not sinking in. Not letting him make the connection between his body temperature and dead bodies. He then fully cupped the blond's cheek, smearing the blood located there and getting some on his own hand as he did so. _

"_Dobe....." he whispered. His voice barely recognizable to himself. But he didn't care, he had to wake his wife up. "Dobe....." he said louder, adding a small shake with it. "Naruto....." he called even louder. Using his other hand also to shake the blond awake. But there was still......_

_Nothing._

_The realization began crashing down on him. Relentlessly showing him the reality of the situation. The reality he didn't want to see. Unadulterated fear began to rise up in him. His shaking of his wife's body becoming more frantic, "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, NARUTO!!!!" _

_A particular hard shake caused a grinding of some sort in the blond's neck area. This sound stopped the raven's actions, his eyes growing unbelievably wide as his hands--still on the other's shoulders--shook violently. His wide onyx drifted away from his motionless lover to his bloodied hands and back to him. _

_He stumbled back suddenly and fell to the floor on his rear. His head shaking in denial as he used his feet to scoot himself away from the body on the bed. Not wanting to face the realization. Not wanting to believe that his dobe was gone......._

_The wall that his back bumped into prevented him from moving away further. Instead he brought his legs toward him and held them to his chest tightly. Gripping the elbows of his arms with his hands as he lowered his head onto his bent knees. Trying to protect himself from the cruel truth that was lying in front of him. His eyes become dim and stared blankly at his cloth knees. _

_Wanting this to merely be a horrible nightmare and nothing more......_


	13. Once I Was Real

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Thirteen

**Once I Was Real**

The younger Sasuke stared in utter shock at the younger Naruto. His shock generating from the certain physical characteristics that weren't the blond's. Like the blood red eyes with the animalistic slits in them, his scars on his cheeks were much darker and prominent, the canines that were showing as he grinned and the claws that were visible from his hands. But the most shocking was the ominous chakra radiating off of him.

_'What the hell's going on?!'_ he asked in his mind. Trying to come up with something that could reason this out. Anything to explain what was happening with his dobe. And why yet another person was calling Naruto 'Kyuubi'. And his worry only grew when the other spoke. It wasn't Naruto's. _'Not his....' _It sounded like he was possessed or something. Because there was a darker, more deeper and sinister sounding voice underneath the blond's. Causing his stomach to jump and an eerie chill to run down his spine.

"Naruto?!" yelled Sakura beside him. Her struggling being put to the side and forgotten-ed as she openly gaped at her blond teammate. "Naruto, what's wrong with you?!"

Her question was obviously ignored. Because currently the younger Naruto and the older one were having a staring contest. Both waiting to see which one would give and look away first.

Kakashi took wary steps to his right. Circling to the opposite side of the room than the side older Sasuke was standing. Not completely sure how this Kyuubi would react to the situation. "Kyuubi, what are you doing out?" His visible eye catching the movement of Chidori sticking her head around the destroyed wall and watching what was going on with teary eyes.

"**Isn't it obvious? I won't tolerate something as low as a parasite invading my territory.**" he sneered without taking his eyes off the other Naruto.

It didn't take more than two seconds before the older Sasuke asked or more like demanded, "You know what's wrong with him?!" Hope building within him that this can be fixed. That he can get his dobe back somehow.

The younger Naruto's grin morphed into a disgusted expression at the idea of what was invading his Kit's body. Even though it wasn't _really_ his Kit's body but it was a version of his Kit's and that was as good as his host's own. "**Sure do, Uchiha. They're called 'Parasites'. The lowest of demon species. The only way they can survive is to inhabit a human host. Gaining any and all the attributes of that human. Disgusting little shits if you asked me. The only thing they can call they're own is their consciousness. Everything else belongs to the host.**"

He tilted his head to the side like he was sizing up the other male. "**But there's something that doesn't make sense. One, I would never allow scum like you to infect my Kit for long. And two, if whoever that did this somehow figured out how to suppress my chakra, it would still be quite difficult to near impossible to overthrow the brat's will.......Unless he gave it up willingly to protect his three brats that they have.**"

_'Three brats that they have?'_ questioned Raiden in his mind. His eyes widening as realization hit him brutally in the head. He snapped his head to his father, looking for any kind of surprise on the older man's face. When none was present, his brows furrowed in an accusatory manner. _'Did he know?' _

Older Naruto straightened himself up into a standing position, instead of the crouch one he's been in. Ignoring the odd feeling that was going through him for the past couple of minutes. "Are you quite done with your speech yet? 'Cause personally......I'm bored. So can I finish what--" he abruptly stopped. His eyes closing tightly and his head shaking like he was trying to shake something out of his hair.

This strange action effectively caught everyone's attentions.

The younger Naruto's grin returned full force when he saw this. _**'Just as I speculated.'**_ Though to him, it did take a little longer than he expected it would. "**What's wrong? Something the **_**matter**_**?**" his voice holding nothing but mock concern.

Eyelids snapped open and directed their fierce scowl at the younger boy. But they weren't pure black like they were before. Now each iris had specks of blue within them. "What the hell did you do to me?!" he growled out.

Sakura worriedly watched the interaction of the two Naruto's. Not sure what to do, even if she should do anything. This was Naruto and Kyuubi she was talking about, two very dangerous beings that could easily destroy this house and possibly everyone in it. Her hands--that were protectively around Raiden--tightened. This being to make sure that if a sudden attack by either parties happened, that she could protect him if needed. He may have been a capable shinobi but he was still her best friends child; her godchild.

With a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, Kyuubi answered, "**Just proving a theory of mine by inserting some of my chakra into the brat's system. Which should be the reason why your control is faltering. Because my chakra is programmed to automatically defend my Kit's system from anything that threatens his health.**" A smug look became present on the younger blond's face. "**And as a bonus, whatever method they used to suppress my chakra should weaken when the exact same chakra hits it. So, you might want to start packing your bags because my Kit may of gave his will up willingly but **_**I'm**_** the one you'll be dealing with. And I don't take too well to sharing.**"

An audible growl escaped the older Naruto's mouth. "You think it's gonna be that simple, you fucking fox! To get your precious little Kit back!" He paused and meant to continue, only to gasp out in pain and collapse to his knees. His fingers snaked in his hair and clutched to those strands tightly, shutting his eyes at the pain that was running through this body and from the control he was rapidly losing. _'This can't happen!' _

This lack of focus from the older blond, caused the wooden binds around the lower half and around the arms of Sakura and Sasuke to be released. Without actually expecting this to happen, the two fell to the floor unceremoniously. Sakura adding a yelp at the suddenness and the impact with the hard wooden flooring.

Younger Sasuke was back on his feet in a matter of seconds. His eyes only on his dobe that wasn't acting like his dobe at all.

The body of the older Sasuke's twitched to go to _his_ Naruto. His insides protesting against his logical mind to protect his wife from Kyuubi. From the fox that was the reason why his dobe was hurting. But he kept his feet firmly glued to the ground. Keeping his distance from the blond. Because if he didn't--if he let himself believe that he was really Naruto when it wasn't. Then he knew that his instincts--the ones that told him to protect his wife at all costs--would prevent Kyuubi from helping his dobe. From getting his love back.

_'Could I really get him back?'_ he questioned himself with self loathing doubt lacing each word. He didn't know. He didn't know that what Kyuubi was doing was going to bring his dobe back into the forefront of control. And he hated himself even more for this doubt. Another painful groan came from his blond, causing him to grit his teeth and continue to gaze at the pain that was crossing his lover's features.

Kyuubi noticed the internal battle that the older Uchiha was having but decided not to comment on it. He was just hoping that the other wasn't stupid enough to attack him. Even though, with the age that his Kit was now and the powerful chakra that he's noticed coming from the Uchiha, he didn't know if he could take him. He could only let so much of his chakra flow through his brat at this age before it would start causing problems.

But instead of pondering on that any longer, he began to take steps toward the fallen older Naruto. Passing the younger Sasuke, who grabbed his forearm and held him back. "Dobe.....Naruto, what are you--" but his next words were cut off by Kyuubi pressing his lips to the Uchiha's. Which stunned the latter to his very core. His body stiffening and freezing to the spot. While his insides did the complete opposite. They flipped and stirred restlessly at the feeling of the other's lips against his own.

The younger Sakura gaped at the intimate contact between her two male teammates. While Kyuubi smirked against his lips at the reaction he got and pulled back slightly, then leaned in close to Sasuke's ear. Whispering, "**Back off, Uchiha.....**" He then pulled himself out of Sasuke's hold, which was lax from the utter shock still running through the boy's system.

As Kyuubi continued toward the other Naruto, Sasuke's hand slowly lifted to his tingling lips. _'Naruto just kissed me.....' _Momentarily forgetting the situation at hand as his first two fingers settled on the still tinging flesh of his lips.

Older Naruto glared up at the other Naruto when he stopped a few feet from his fallen figure. His irises revealing more blue than before. Suddenly though, the infected Naruto chuckled sinisterly. "No matter what you do Kyuubi......" The blue within his eyes slowly being overtaken by the black again. Which caused the younger Naruto's features to frown. "......I won't go that easily." his tone turning into a growl at the end. His body rising back up into a standing position.

Not able to take much more of his blond's mouth talking, the older Sasuke abruptly stepped forward and gripped his blond's wrist, roughly tugging on the limb to make him face him. And before the other could speak a word of protest, he crushed his lips upon the deathly pale ones of Naruto. Whose eyes widened considerably at the unexpected action.

The blond in the raven's arms wasn't the only one surprised by this. The other occupants were intently staring at the intimate contact between the two that was shockingly initiated by Sasuke. But the one that was staring the closest was the younger version of Sasuke himself.

It made him feel weird to basically see himself doing something so full of emotion. Because that's what it was filled with, so many emotions. He could tell that from where he was standing. And it made something stir in him at the scene. Then there was the fact that it was with Naruto no less. That blond, that it seems will somehow get him to fall completely in love with. And a part of him couldn't wait to fall.....

The sensual movement of the raven's lips against his own caused his eyes to unconsciously close. The struggle within him suddenly stopping as his lips moved against the other's. His hands gripped the fabric of Sasuke's black shirt, pulling him closer to him. Sasuke more than willingly complied, pressing their bodies closing as he slipped his tongue into the cavern of his wife's. Tasting and favoring what was still only his lover. And that's when his conscious mind completely forgot his surroundings as he deepen the kiss. Only wanting to focus on the person in his arms right now. This person that he's missed so much.

His hand that was holding the blond's wrist released it and moved up to the back of his head, lacing his fingers through his dull blond hair. His other hand was located at the base of his back, pressing him impossibly closer. Naruto's arms snaked around Sasuke's shoulders as his tongue teased and massaged against the organ probing his mouth. Both seemingly enjoying the intoxicating feeling of the other against them.

Soon the need of air was required. Which caused Sasuke to reluctantly pull back from those delectable lips that still tasted exactly like before. He was breathing heavily to regain the breath he lost as his eyes opened partly with love and lust evident in there depths and stared down at his blond. Who had his eyes still closed with an dazed expression and his breath coming out in pants. After another couple of seconds, Naruto opened his eyes and Sasuke gasped at what he saw.

When once held pure black eyes, now showed the complete iris of sapphire with the only black streaking like lightning in the corners of his eyes. His mouth open slightly and then closed it again. His orbs showing true recognition for the first time since seeing him. "Sasuke....." his voice breathed out.

Sasuke's widened eyes began to tear up at the one word that sent his heart skipping a beat. He lowered one hand and brought the other up to cup the blond's face. Caressing his cheek gently with his right thumb, "Naruto.....? Is that you dobe?"

Naruto blinked a couple of times before a look of pain came across his features. His hands gripping back into Sasuke's shirt as his head lowered, his bangs covering the view of his face.

"Naruto......Naru--" but Sasuke was abruptly cut off by being viciously thrown across the room by Naruto. Who snapped, "ENOUGH OF THIS!!" as Sasuke crashed against the remaining wall to the entrance of the living room and then crumbling to the floor. His head lifted slowly to look back at Naruto and when pure black eyes met his, his strength seemingly escaped him because he didn't get up from the floor. _'No....'_ His heart breaking even more from the hope that crashed down like a mirror smashing into a hundreds of pieces.

The younger Naruto stepped out of the way just in time to ensure he didn't have an armful of Uchiha. Then snapped his head to the other Naruto when wind began to gather in the living room that had no breeze within before now. The wind becoming so strong that whatever debris and little furniture that was left within the room went flying and circling in the wind.

Older Sakura gasp from a large chuck of the destroyed wall that hit her painfully in her arm. "Aunt Sakura!" exclaimed Raiden but it went unheard by the female as she forcibly guided Raiden further away from the cause of the wind and shielded him protectively with her body.

Kakashi stumbled back a few paces before he concentrated chakra into his feet and stayed in place in a crouched position. Pondering what the hell they could do to stop this Naruto from his actions. And before he destroyed the rest of the Uchiha's house, of course.

Younger Sakura fell on her rear end with a yelp and then skidded across the wooden floor until she hit the wall that connected with the kitchen with a loud thud. Ignoring the pain in her back, she lifted her hand and pushed her hair that kept flying all over the place, out of her face. Looking through her squinted eyes in the direction where she thought her two teammates were.

Younger Sasuke was still where he was standing previously, his feet loaded with enough chakra to keep him located there. His arm was covering his eyes from the debris that threated to enter them. But regardless of this, he kept his eyes opened and made attempts to get to his dobe that was standing a small distance from him.

Said dobe was also keeping his ground by plastering his feet to the floor with chakra. But that didn't stop his upper body from swaying with the current of wind. This definitely wasn't going as he thought it would. Especially after finding out that his chakra effected the control that the parasite had on his brat. Then the Uchiha managing to get Naruto his control only for it to be taken back by the insect piece of shit. No, not what he expected.

Not what he expected at all.

He threatening flared his chakra high enough where it extended out of his Kit's body. His features morphing into a nasty snarl as his body hunch forward toward the ground. A posture of an animal threatened.

The sudden flare of heated chakra caused the younger Sasuke to stumble back to avoid from receiving chakra burns. He could hardly believe the amount of chakra that was coming from Naruto. _'Is this really Naruto?' _It was so thick, it was suffocating.

A sadistic smirk appeared on the infected Naruto, his hands forming hand seals as he sneered, "You won't catch me off guard again, Kyuubi!" And without another word, the wind began to take forms of small tornadoes. And as the tornadoes plummeted through the air at rocket speed toward the other Naruto, they thinned out and sharpened to like knifes.

With a growl that couldn't be heard over the sounds of the wind, Naruto flipped his body in the air, dodging a sharpened tornado. Older Sasuke that was still on the spot on the floor, quickly pushed himself off the ground and rolled to his left to avoid from getting one through his chest.

Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan. _'This is going to far.' _He reached to his weapons pouch on his leg and took out a kunai. Positioning the weapon in his hand before speeding toward the older Naruto. Who directed his black eyes to him which also redirected two of the tornadoes toward the silver-haired jounin.

The latter twisted his body over one and damn near came into contact with the other but otherwise made it past the two deathtraps. He forced his body past the strong current of wind surrounding Naruto and aimed a punch at the blond. He blocked the punch with his arm and firmly grabbed a hold of the limb. Turning his body abruptly and throwing Kakashi through the archway to the kitchen and colliding with the kitchen island. Which upon impact destroyed it to chucks of wood and plaster.

The older Sakura watched as Kakashi crashed into the kitchen island. She moved herself away from Raiden, yelling over the wind as she did so, "Stay right here, okay! Don't you dare try to confront Naruto!" And then she began to crawl toward the kitchen to Kakashi, who was already getting from the rumble.

Raiden gazed squintingly at her retreating back and then turned his head toward his scary looking and acting mother. Then glanced over at his father, who was still positioned on the floor and staring blankly at the infected Naruto. But the blank facade wasn't as well built as usual and Raiden could easily see the suffering that his father was going through by just having his mother in the same room and doing the things that he was doing. He turned his attention back to his slightly out of control mother, _'Stop it....please stop this, Kaa-san.....please.....' _Tears silently falling from his eyes as he pleaded.

Naruto landed back on his feet--noticing the idiotic effort of the jounin--and spun around, barely missing one from taking his arm off. _'__**Fucker!**__'_ He stumbled from the sharpened tornado that passed him. Almost taking him completely off his feet. He dug his right foot into the flooring to himself standing as he brought his right arm back. Focusing his chakra into that limb and preparing to extend it to the other Naruto. Hopefully causing another disruption in the control of the parasite.

But this action was noticed by the older Naruto. "That won't work this time." he sneered to himself as he sent more sharpened tornadoes toward him.

The younger blond managed to dodge the first few but the last one made a direct contact with his gut. Tearing a strangled scream from his being as the tornado cut through his flesh like butter and exiting out through his back. His body was thrown a several feet from the force of the blow and landed on the ground limply. Kyuubi's consciousness and chakra instantly receded back into his host to work on healing his severely wounded body.

Three distinct gasps and one cry of "Naruto!" sounded the exact moment that the tornado hit the younger blond. The younger two of Sakura and Sasuke quickly rushed over to the fallen blond. The latter of the two pulled the other's blood soaked shirt up to examine the damage done. Though by the amount of blood that was seeping out and pooling around the boy, he guessed that it was really bad. But soon shock ran through his system as he saw that the hole made by the tornado was already healing right before his eyes.

A gasp from Sakura across from him also told him that she was not expecting something like this to happen either. His onyx eyes wandered from the healing on there own damage to the black markings on his stomach that to him resemble a tattoo. The same one that he saw the night before. But he chose not to linger on this for long because he snapped his head to the other Naruto with his sharingan activated. His blood boiling at him for injuring his blond as he rose to his feet, readying to take him on.

But the infected Naruto wasn't going to let him get two steps closer to him, as he already set off two tornadoes toward the younger three. Hoping to take care of these little pest sooner than later. Where they could possibly become a bigger problem than they already were.

Sasuke watched as the sharpened tornadoes came spiraling toward him. His heart thumping in his chest and ringing in his ears as his mind worked on anything that he could do to counter the deadly attack. He had to do something or else this attack could kill his Naruto. He shallowed deeply at the terrible feeling that came with that thought.

He quickly formed hand seals for a fire jutsu. This might be a terrible mistake on his part but he be damn if he was going to let Naruto die. And as he did his, Sakura threw her body over Naruto to possibly save him from any more life threatening injuries.

Older Sakura made sure that Kakashi had no major injuries before they both reentered the living room. And when she saw that the older Naruto was aiming his current attacks at the younger three, her blood ran cold. Without even thinking, her legs moved on there own and rushed forward. That single second getting her in front of the younger Sasuke as he was about to shout his jutsu.

She formed her own hand seals and shouted, "Kabe no Chakura!"

A chakra barrier of ten feet wide formed in front of her just as the tornadoes came colliding against it, causing her to skid a couple of feet back. Her booted foot digging itself into the flooring to keep herself steady.

Naruto's smirk became more twisted at this action. "A chakra barrier? I wonder how long you can hold that up Sakura-_chan_!" he mocked, putting more strength behind the two tornadoes clashing against her barrier. He then leaned back slightly to avoid the attack that was made by Kakashi. Now focusing his attention on the jounin, who continued wanting to be a nuisance to the blond.

Sakura gritted her teeth against the added stress against her barrier and pressed her foot harder against the floor. Sweat accumulating on her forehead and dripping down her face from the chakra she was using to keep her barrier up. _'Dammit! At this rate, I won't be able to hold it up must longer!' _

Breathing heavily from her exertion, she addressed the two behind her, "Get Naruto and yourselves out of harms way, now!!" She didn't care what happened to her but those three had to stay alive.

"But what about you?!" asked the younger Sakura when she lifted herself off of Naruto. Sasuke stood there wide eyed as he stared at the back of the older Sakura. Her bravery and her strength wasn't something that the younger raven was used to. So when she jumped in front of the attack, he was quite surprised. He definitely wasn't used to _her_ saving him. There goes another part of his ego down the drain. He just hopes that Naruto never hears of this. The boy would never let him live it down.

"Don't worry about me! Just get to safety!"

Sasuke forced himself out of his thoughts and hurriedly approached the left side of Naruto. Shoving his right arm underneath the top of his back and putting his other underneath the blond's legs. He lifted his dobe up into his arms--being careful of his wound--and clutched him close to his body, planning to move him further down the hall and pass the staircase. As he moved he saw that the younger Sakura was still hesitating, he yelled, "Sakura, come on!"

But the young girl still hesitated. That is, until her older self yelled sternly with a little hysterics lacing her voice, "GO NOW!!"

She jumped slightly at the other's tone of voice but obey non the less. She rose to her feet and followed after Sasuke, who was already halfway down the hallway with Chidori by his side. The younger raven haired girl looking at the blond's wounds as they hurried down the hallway.

The older Sakura groaned against the stress that was being put on her body. The wind current leaking through her barrier and blowing against her face, cooling her heated skin. Her body finally lost the rest of it's strength, resulting in the barrier completely falling. _'Shit...' _was the last thing she thought before her mind and body were overcome with excruciating pain.

The force of the blow sending Sakura's body flying out of the living room, across the hall and through the wall that divided off another room. She destroyed several large pieces of furniture as she landed violently on the floor, flipping once before she stopped completely flat on her stomach. This collision rendering her unconscious with blood oozing out of her mouth, nose and wounds on her body. That severely stained her cloths and pooled underneath her.

"Aunt Sakura!" screamed Chidori as she saw her Aunt flying through the air. Her chest tightening even more with desperation when she didn't see her Aunt coming back through the destroyed section of wall. Probably wounded but at least she would know that she was still alive.

Another half a minute passed and still no movement. She shifted her body and was prepared to stand and check go on her Aunt but her wrist was suddenly grabbed in a vice grip. She looked down at the pale hand holding her wrist and then followed the limb to its owner. Her onyx connecting with the same onyx of her younger father.

"Where are you going?" the latter asked curtly.

"I have to make sure Aunt Sakura is alright!" she responded hastily as she tried to break free of the other's grip. Her body trembling and on the verge of fresh tears.

"No!!" he protested almost violently.

With a yelp from Chidori, she was yanked back down to sitting on the floor. Sasuke stating after this was done, "I'll check on her! You stay here!" and there was no room for any more arguments. And it wasn't like she would test her younger father's patience. From the time she spent around him, he seems to have less patience than her father now.

To make sure that she stayed where they were at, Sasuke ordered Sakura as he placed Naruto gently on the ground and stood from his crouching position, "Make sure she doesn't move from here!" and added a death glare toward the pink hair kunoichi to make sure she understood the seriousness of his order.

She slivered slightly from the intense glare that was directed at her but gave a nodded curtly anyway. "I understand."

With that and one last glance at Naruto, Sasuke proceeded down the hallway. Being quite cautious of anything that might beside to fly around and collide with him. When he got closer to the now large entrance to the living room, he could see his older self still crouch on the floor. His features as blank as before as his eyes continuously stared in the direction of his wife. _'What the hell is wrong with him? Why won't he do anything? Isn't he the only one that can really take on that Naruto?' _

He made it to the edge of the jagged edge of the wall and stuck his face hesitantly around the corner. A gust of wind hitting him right in the face when he did so. After re-getting used to the wind current blowing around, he opened his eyes and looked around the chaos that was once called a living room.

Kakashi was currently in a fierce hand to hand combat with Naruto. While Raiden stood close to the archway to the kitchen, watching the battle going on with feared induced eyes. Who had an internal argument going on inside him to enter the fray of the chaos and risking his life. Which would probably be the case and most likely losing it. Or stay out of the way and prolong with his life until his mother got to him. And with the way his Uncle was going, it would probably be soon.

He nibbled on his already abused and bleeding lip. Searching through his head for something that might be successful against his mother. But doing this only had him mentally cursing colorfully because mostly everything he knows, he's learned from his parents. Which wouldn't do him any good. With this--with what Kyuubi called him--parasite able to access his mother's memories, then he would know the whole families techniques and weaknesses.

In short......he's fucked.

Sasuke moved away from the chuck of destroyed wall and proceeded across the hall to and through the forcibly made entryway to the study. In quick steps, he approached the unconscious Sakura and knelt beside her. A pang of guilt building when he took in the blood and damage she acquire because she was trying to protect them.

He brought the first two fingers of his hand to the pulse point of her neck and pressed down upon the area. Concentrating on that area for a few seconds and in those seconds the small drum of the vein beat against his fingers. He breathed out a sigh of relief that at least she was still alive but with the strength behind her heartbeat, she wasn't going to be for long if she didn't get some medical attention soon.

And he seriously doubted that the other Naruto wouldn't notice him taking her out of the house. "Dammit!" he cursed to himself right before a loud crash caught his attention. Resulting in his head snapping to the entry and looking across the hall at whatever he could see from his spot.

Naruto spun on his feet and once he was facing Kakashi again, he knocked away the kick that was directed at him and immediately blocked the punch that quickly followed. The exchange of powerful blows continued on until Naruto grabbed Kakashi's hand and used that restraint to hold the there steady for the second that he needed. Then he used his other hand to slam his palm right into the older man's chest. Distinct cracking of bones was clearing heard as he was sent crashing into and through the wall near the shattered window. His body tumbling around and destroying the outside yard when he collided violently with the ground.

A yell of the jounin's name in the distance outside reached Naruto's ears and he growled distastefully, wanting to continue with what he was doing. But not really in the mood to deal with the others that he felt were approaching the Uchiha resistance at a fast pace.

So instead of bothering himself with those pests, he addressed Sasuke quickly, "THREE DAYS!!" The surrounding wind condensing into a small tornado around him. "Three days you will meet me for a fight at the Valley of End! If you don't show then I WILL destroy this whole village and make sure everyone you hold dear is dead!"

And with that said, the winds increased as Naruto disappeared in the tornado. The tornado forced winds dying down to almost non existent as his chakra left the area like it was never there in the first place.

Raiden stared at the spot where his mother was standing a second before for a long moment. Not saying a word as he let his body fall against the wall close behind him. Then he let his body slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor with his knees bent in front of him. The shock that he hasn't had time to feel finally becoming prominent in him.

His eyes unconsciously drifted toward his father. Who appeared was also in shock as he had his head lowered with his hands gripping in his hair. A look of sadness crossed his features when he thought of what his father was going through. He couldn't even imagine it because really he could never know.

Neji, Kiba, Lee and Ino entered through the missing section of wall from the outside. Neji and Lee not stopping and continuing on to the other rooms while the other two remained gazing at the destruction of the unrecognizable room.

"Shit...." came the whispered remark about the condition of the living room from Kiba.

Lee's frantic voice that resounded back into the living room, instantly shook the two of their minor stupor. "We need medical attention in here!!"

Kiba pivoted on the balls of his feet and exit the house in a run to get that medical attention that was bellowed for. Ino glanced at Sasuke for a moment before deciding to check on Raiden first. Knowing that the older Uchiha had enough experience with pain--if there was any--that he could deal with it longer than his son.

As she kneeled down beside the still boy, she heard several voices and footsteps bustling behind her. But she ignored them and concentrated on the young blond before her. "Raiden-kun....." she began softly, "......can you tell me if anything hurts?"

He stared at her for what seemed like for several minutes before he shook his head slowly. "Aunt Sakura and Naruto.......they were hurt."

Ino was startled for a second on hearing Naruto's name but then remembered the meeting that was held by the Hokage, explaining about the younger versions of Team Seven being here. She let go of the breath she was holding as she said, "They're already getting the help they need and probably will be just fine." She tried to reassure the younger boy but the worry she felt for her pink haired friend didn't go down any. "Now, how did all of this happen?"

Only one word came out of the slightly partly lips of Raiden, "Kaa-san...."

**

* * *

**

Kabe no Chakura-Wall of chakra


	14. Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Fourteen

**Aftermath**

Light was dim and flickered by a few fixtures in a dank corridor that two men walked down. The surrounding air slightly stuffy and smelled of dust and mildew as their argument overshadowed the sounds of their footsteps clicking on the tile floor.

"Dammit Haruka, the damage to the binding is unrepairable!" yelled a man with spiky brunette with beads connected in his hair. "It would take months to even prepare to put another binding in place and we don't have that kind of time!" When he saw that the green haired male didn't seem like he was paying attention, he grabbed his forearm and stopped his steps. Turning him so he was facing him. "Kyuubi's chakra is leaking through and eventually that bind is going to disintegrate. And when that happens, we're screwed!"

Haruka smiled sweetly at the taller male with cruelness underlining it. "But there's three things you're seemingly forgetting about. And with those three things within our grasps, there's nothing that Naruto-sama would do that would cause harm to them. So stop worrying so much, Ketsuke." he said and patted the brunette on his shoulders before proceeding down the corridor.

Ketsuke glared at the back of Haruka with slight contempt before following the man. Though, he kept a few feet behind him to avoid from spitting his opinions at him. Though that didn't stop him from continuously glaring at him.

Haruka was the first to stop in front of one of the closed doors that were lining the corridor, then a few seconds later, Ketsuke stopped beside him. His fingers playing with the pockets on his pants to keep his hands busy as Haruka dug into his pants pocket. Moments later, retrieving a set of keys that were located there.

The green haired male skimmed through the keys on the keyring and searching through about four, he found the one he needed. He grabbed a hold of that key and hook it a little to move the others to the other side so he could unlock the door better. Once he stuck the key within the keyhole, he turned several times to unlock the door he wished to enter.

He placed the hand that wasn't holding the key in the keyhole on the door handle and pushed the metal handle down. Pulling open the door as he retracted his key from the door. He walked into the darkened room, with his keys in his hand, through the opening. Ketsuke followed but didn't enter the room completely, he stopped at the door frame and remained there.

"Have you three been good little boys?" Haruka asked in a fake baby voice to the three small infants in the extra large crib situated in the middle of the room.

Two of the boys had bluish-black hair; one with unruly hair and the other also held some unruliness but it naturally spiked in the back. They both also held onyx color within their eyes. The third boy had blond hair with some brown streaking within the strands and piercing sapphire eyes. All three complexions were in the middle of being tan and pale.

All three boys looked up at the man with fright written on their faces. Though this fright was completely ignored by both men as Haruka approach them and picked up two of the boys. Who immediately began crying and struggling in his arms. This action caused Ketsuke to ask, "What you doing?"

"Relocating them, what else? Right now, Naruto-sama knows where they're kept. This way, he won't know and it gives us an up on the control over him." Once he was finished, he walked past him and said over his shoulder. "Grab the last one!"

Ketsuke scowled at the now empty doorway, then turned to the bawling little boy. And with a sigh, he grabbed the boy non-too-gently and exited the small room. Following after Haruka and to wherever he plans to house these brats......

* * *

It's been an day since the incident with the older Naruto happened, and everything's been chaotic since then. As Tsunade suspected, Gaara was at the front gate of Konoha within the next day with his sister Temari in tow.

The red head looking absolutely murderous.

For the remainder of the day, up until the present time, all the high ranking and closest friends of Naruto--minus Sakura and Kakashi--have been stuck and probably battling it out in the conference room. The only person being allowed in the room was Shizune, who brought the food and drinks when it was necessary.

All but one of the Uchiha children were located in the Hokage's courters in the Tower. Which when Naruto was Hokage, was sometimes used as a play area for his children. On the days when the daycare center was closed and Sasuke was on a mission at the same time. So he loaded the room with stuff that would keep his younger kids preoccupied so he could do his work. And once he was gone, Tsunade didn't have the heart to clear the room out.

The missing Uchiha child, which was the eldest, either paced or sat in a chair that he brought there by the doors of the conference room. Impatiently waiting for the people inside the room to finally come out, so he could find out what they plan on doing about his mother. The foreboding in his chest wouldn't cease at all, because he couldn't brush off the feeling that they might reason that it would be better to kill his mother for the safety of Konoha. And even if it wasn't really his mother in control, his mother was still in there......

His mother......

The younger Sasuke sat silently on the window sill in a hospital room. This hospital room currently having an unconscious Naruto as it's occupant. His face was turned toward the outside and leaning against the glass. His hot breath fogging the window with each exhale. But to anyone who knew Uchiha Sasuke, they probably would think that he was merely staring out but in reality, he had his eyes closed and was sleeping lightly. His body being too tired to keep awake any longer.

The younger Sakura slept soundly in a chair close to her blond teammate's bed. Her legs curled up toward her chest with her arms wrapped around them securely. With her head laid upon the chair's arm. Which from appearances, her position didn't look too comfortable.

A small flinch of younger Naruto's hand occurred before it moved completely. His unconsciousness slowly coming back into consciousness as his head rolled to the side and a small groan escaped his throat. Which caused the lightness of Sasuke's sleep to fall away completely. Resulting in his eyes opening and his head turning toward Naruto on the bed. And when he realized that he was waking up, he immediately jumped off the window sill and stood by the blond's hospital bed.

He placed his hand on the blond's and looked at his face, waiting for those eyelids to open and reveal those sapphire orbs that he couldn't stop seeing in his mind. But that never came, instead a pained expression appeared on Naruto's features and both of his hands gripped his head brutally. All the while, the blond groaned in pain and curled in on himself to stop whatever was happening.

Sakura's eyes snapped opened when she heard the pained groan. And knowing in the back of her mind that it was her teammate, she quickly pushed herself off her chair and yelled as she did so, "Naruto!" And when she was standing by his bedside she asked with extreme worry and panic in her voice and showing on her face. "What's happening to him?!"

Sasuke didn't hear her as he was panicking. He didn't know what was happening and didn't know how he could help. "Naruto!" he yelled as he tried to turn him so he could be facing him.

Naruto felt like his head was splitting in two. So many things were going on--so many different images passing by and other kind of memories that he could no longer separate if they were his or the other Naruto's. They were all burring together causing him to just want to pull in his hair out of his head just to stop it.

_**'Hold on Kit!' **_assured Kyuubi, _**'I'll make it stop!' **_Though this went unheard by the blond.

And after another moment, the overpowering commotion in his mind began to calm down. Making it so he could actually hear his own thoughts and function properly. His gripped within his hair loosened and his body un-tensed itself. He took in deep breaths to replenish the air he lost as he was--literally--losing his mind.

His body involuntarily flinched when a hand settled on his shoulder. Which caused said hand to pull back slightly with hurt growing in the owner of that hand. Who non-to-surprisingly belonged to Sasuke. He touched the blond's shoulder again and whispered softly, "Naruto...." Which seemed to calm Naruto down even more.

Sakura stood and stared wide-eyed at Sasuke. The gentleness that was present in his voice when he addressed Naruto, sending her off balance. As she never heard such a tone of his voice like that. Not directed at her, that is. Or should she say at anyone before now. But only a small spark of jealousy ran through her before a true albeit slightly sad smile formed on her features. Knowing that Naruto was the only one that could bring that side of Sasuke out and that she could never do that. And she could live with that.

Naruto let his hands fall from his head as he turned over to face the already known person that owned the voice. And when those sapphire eyes landed on Sasuke, the latter let out the breath he was holding, seeing that they were not red. He unconsciously brushed the blond bangs away from Naruto's forehead, forgetting that Sakura was still present within the room.

Before Sasuke could get anything out of his mouth, Naruto whispered in a raspy voice, "It stopped...." Which, on the outside caused Sasuke brows to furrow in confusion on what he was meaning but on the inside, his heart jump at hearing his voice normal and not holding a deeper and more sinister tone underneath his own.

"What stopped?" he asked gently once again. His thumb caressing the spot where his bangs were once laying. That same caressing was slowly causing Naruto to drift off, enjoying the attention that he knew Sasuke was giving unconsciously. "Hmmm......the other's memories........" and not being completely in his right mind, he continued saying, "......Kyuu stopped them......"

Sasuke's whole body stiffened at the mentioned name. While Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, her mouth whispering, "Kyuubi...." but even if it was whispered, Naruto heard her. Causing him to realize what he said, which resulted in his eyes widening and jolting up into a sitting position. His depths showing the terrified rejection that he thought was going to come.

That terror deeply running through his veins.......

* * *

Raiden sat precariously on the chair positioned by the conference room. His lower half barely sitting on the chair while his utter half laid comfortably like a sack of potatoes. His arms hanging lazily off the arms of the chair, his head bent back against the back of the chair and staring aimlessly up at the ceiling. His mind wondering blankly through nothing in hopes that maybe it might pass the time quicker.

Cause damn, how long can they take in deciding about his mother. And thanks to some imbecile that decided to put a silencing jutsu around the room, he couldn't hear a damn thing through the walls. _'Fucker....' _he cursed absentmindedly to the person who cast it.

Another moment passed before the door handle to the door creaked and turned. Causing Raiden to snap his head in that direction to see the handle turn. And with the excitement running through his system at finally being able to get some answers, he unceremoniously fell to the floor as he was trying to get to his feet.

Using his arms to hoist his body to it's feet, he stood up right before the door opened and the first person walked out. Or more like limped out. As it was his Uncle Kiba limping and grumbling under his breath with his wife Hinata by his side, trying to help him walk. When she noticed Raiden, she smiled softly and bid him a, "Hello, Raiden-kun."

He smiled back albeit it was strained and she could see that it was. Knowing his mother for years helped in spotting these things. "Hey, Aunt Hinata! What happen to Uncle Kiba?!" A scowl was the only thing he received from his Uncle as his gentle Aunt was the one that answered before the other could, "Oh don't worry about Kiba, Raiden-kun. He'll he fine." she reassured the younger boy while she tugged her husband along to keep him from bad mouthing the one person out of two that was involved in his injury.

Lee, Ino and Temari were the next out of the room . Lee and Ino quickly passing and heading down the hall while Temari paused for a moment to say hi to the blond boy before following the two to where a pink hair kunoichi laid. The next were a few council members and other high ranking members of Konoha. All but the council members greeting him and/or bowing to him to show their respect to _only_ his families name.

Then Shino, Tenten and Anko exited the room next. Shino curtly nodded his head toward him as he walked down the hall without stopping. Tenten greeted him cheerfully but he could easily see the distress within her brown eyes. But she made her greeting short, just like all the others. Most likely to avoid answering any of his questions that he so desperately wanted answered. Anko merely waved and went on. These type of situations not being her thing at all.

More people that Raiden didn't care one bit for exited the room. _'Damn, how many people can fit in that room?'_ Raiden thought as he began to tap his foot in waiting for the people to clear and show who was going to exit next. His irritation rising with each passing moment.

Chouji was the next to leave the room, the usual bag of chips not currently present within his grasp. His movements paused for a second when he realized that Raiden was standing right beside the opposite door. But quickly averted his eyes to the floor and walked down the hall before he was questioned by the younger boy.

Now Raiden's irritation was sky high when even his Uncle Chouji wouldn't explain to him what was going to happen. He peeked inside the crack of the door, that was left thanks to his Uncle Chouji not closing it completely, and saw more people within the room's walls. Not many, but who he could see from his angle was his Uncle Shika's back and most of the right side of the room. Where his Uncle Gaara--who looked slightly disheveled to him--and Uncle Neji stood, looking non-too-pleased with whatever was said.

Though that's not the reason why Raiden's eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging slightly. It was because of the condition of the room. It looked like a full out battle occurred within the room. Large and small chunks of the wall were missing from the walls, the legs on one side of the long table in the middle of the room were completely broken off and that same side was laying completely on the floor, leaving the table strangely lopsided. And from what he could see, he saw many broken pieces of wood and not too many chairs.

Raiden quickly jumped back from the door when it abruptly opened, revealing his busty grandmother--A.K.A the Godaime. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly when she gave him an accusatory look. "Hey baa-chan....."

She opened the door wider as she exited the room, the same look remaining on the young boy. "Raiden, what do you think you're doing?" she asked in an patronizing manner.

He flashed her the most innocent smile that he so perfectly learned from his mother at such a tender age of three. "Nothing....."

A sigh could be heard coming from her mouth as she shook her head in mock disappointment. But when she directed her eyes back to him, he saw the same thing as some of the others that had at least the nerve to look him in the eye.

Sorrow.....

But before he could voice his questions, his Uncle Neji walked out of the room and greeted him with a solemn voice, "Hello Raiden, I thought that was you outside the door. " But once again, he wasn't able to speak because yet another person, his Uncle Shika to be precise, stepped out of the room looking quite tired. Like always. Though this seemed like a different type of tiredness, like the real kind instead of his usual plain laziness.

Shikamaru looked at them all before saying in a strained voice, "You know I need a cigarette. Right about now, I don't care how bad Temari would kick my ass. After going through all that, I think I deserve one."

"Nothing is worth Temari's beatings. Nothing." stated Gaara from behind the tall brunette. Who moved to the side and gave a half-hearted glare at the red head as he grumbled under his breath about the whole family being too troublesome to cross paths with.

Gaara noticed the firstborn of his first and best friend's child, and gave his usual curt nod to the boy to acknowledge his presence. His expression as blank as normal (unlike earier in the day), not giving away any of his emotions that were running through him. He then directed his attention at the Hokage, "I would like to see this younger Naruto. Just point the way." Not caring if she was planning on not letting him, because he was going to see the blond if she like it or not.

Tsunade knew exactly what he was thinking and she also knew that there was no point in arguing or trying to stop the younger man. So with another sigh from her lips, she instructed, "Follow me." And she turned and proceeded to walk down the hall, in the direction of the younger blond's room. Gaara followed until he reached her side and then began to walk by her side with Neji closely behind him.

Raiden opened his mouth to protest, wanting to speak to them, but closed it before any sound came out. _'Dammit, they're avoiding a conversation with me on purpose!' _He then looked back at the closed doors, wondering why his father wasn't coming out. He was about to go in and check when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

He glared over his shoulder at whoever the person was and realized once he did, that it was his Uncle Shika. Who shook his head and said, "Don't. He needs to be by himself for awhile." Which caused the young blond's glare to soften and gaze at the wood of the doors sadly. "What do they plan to do about Kaa-san?" he asked lowly to his Uncle.

The latter heard his every word, even though it was just slightly above a whisper. But he didn't answer, instead he said, "Come on, let's follow the trio and visit the younger Naruto." Tugging the disgruntled boy in that direction with his hand that was still upon the boy's shoulder.

He reluctantly let himself be led in the direction of Naruto's room but inwardly he was trying to calm his anger toward the other. Who deliberately dismissed his inquiring about his mother. _'You have to tell me sometime.....'_

* * *

Naruto felt like he was going to hyperventilate from the panic that was rapidly filling his body. _'What am I suppose to say? What am I suppose to say, Kyuu?'_

_**'You might want to try the truth because I kind of used your body to help deal with the other Naruto. Meaning they sort of noticed the change......' **_the fox tried to deliver the news as best as he could but.......it didn't go over too well.

_'WHAAT!!! Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.......they gonna hate me--'_

_**'Kit.....'**_

_'--find me repulsive.....they won't want to be around me--'_

_**'KIT!!'**_ Kyuubi yelled, which stopped his panic rambling in a second. _**'Now listen, they won't care. Look at their older selves, who obviously know. Do they hate you for what's sealed inside you? Do they seem to care? Fuck, Uchiha even had man babies with you. You would think that would show that they will love you for who you really are and not hate you because of me.' **_

Naruto's head was physically nodding with everything Kyuubi was saying. _'You're right.....' _He was planning on saying more but Kyuubi interrupted with, _**'Of course I'm right! I'm always right....I don't see why you always bother to try and think I'm not.' **_

The smugness in his voice causing the blond to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the fox's usual antics. Though he had to admit that he felt a lot better thanks to Kyuubi's mini speech. And it gave him enough courage to look calmly albeit nervously at his two teammates. Who were expecting some kind of explanation about what happen the other day. Which, by his reaction, he knew exactly the reason behind them.

Naruto opened his mouth partly and tried to get the words to come out of his mouth, but those words wouldn't form nor a single syllable would escape. He was struck speechless from the others unconsciously accusatory gazes. Those gazes only made him more nervous and less likely to explain about his inner demon. _'Stop looking at me like that.....'_ he pleaded to them within his mind. But it didn't matter, they couldn't hear his pleas. To see his desperate attempt at telling them the truth.

But before he could take another attempt at it, the door to his hospital room opened, causing all eyes to turn to the opening door.

Tsunade walked into the room and was mildly surprised to see Naruto awake and sitting up, staring at her with relieved eyes. She tilted her head back some and said loud enough for all the occupants in the room to hear. "It seems like you're lucky because the brat's awake." This sentence directed to the person behind her.

She moved out of the doorway and went to stand on the side of the room that Sasuke was currently standing on. Once she moved though, it revealed a stern looking red headed man with a tattoo on his forehead. _'Wait....tattoo....'_

"Gaara!" shockingly exclaimed Naruto with his finger blatantly pointing at the other male. His solemn attitude being momentarily replaced with his loud and sometimes obnoxious one.

Gaara's attire consisted of a high collared dark brown coat that fell to his knees. The front buttoned closed with several buckles. Above this jacket was thick chest armor that buckled around his sides and over one of his shoulders. This also held the large gourd strapped to his back and his hitai-ate on one of the straps around his waist. His legs wore puffy long pants, almost the same color as his jacket, only a few shades lighter and black ninja sandals on his feet.

A smirk formed on Gaara's face as he walked within the room and toward the bedside of the blond's. The same side that Sakura was presently standing on. But she quickly put some major distance between her and the red head. Still being afraid of the male, since the last time she saw him was at the chuunin exams. Where he was still a psycho killing-happy freak.

He stood stiffly staring intently down at Naruto on the bed. His emotionless eyes boring into the sapphire. But to Naruto they weren't as emotionless as they were when the last time he saw the red head last. They showed a sadness that was directed at him. Which he couldn't understand why. And then shockingly, Gaara stepped forward and embraced the blond in a hug, causing said blond to stiffen at the unexpected contact.

Sakura's mouth was particularly hanging on the floor at seeing the sand sibling, who was about a month ago completely crazy, being so human. Sasuke, on the other hand, was searing. His eyes bleeding into his sharingan at having _that_ guy touching _his_ blond in any way possible. His fist clenched tightly as his nails dug deeply into his palm when Gaara held Naruto longer than he should have. Hell, what is he talking about, that guy shouldn't be touching him in the first place.

Gaara felt the murderous glare on him and just out of pure spite, he remained hugging the blond longer than he normally would have. Actually normally he wouldn't be hugging Naruto in the first place, it's the blond that usually clobbers him to the floor.

"Umm...." began Naruto awkwardly, ".....no offense Gaara, but it wasn't even a month ago that I kicked your ass. Soooo, can you get off me? It's kind of weird....."

"Hmpf...." Gaara huffed as he pulled back and smirked at the blond, "You're one to talk. You're the one who usually jumps me when you see me."

Naruto's eyes bugged out, thinking the completely wrong thing at those words. Though he wasn't the only one, Sasuke was looking between the two with widened eyes. Breathing becoming harder at the thought that Naruto would one day cheat on him with _that_.

Tsunade lifted her hand to cover the smile on her face that wouldn't stop from appearing. Knowing exactly what the two were thinking because if she didn't know any better she would of thought the same thing at hearing that. Neji, who came in shortly after Gaara, turned his back on the group to avoid showing his amused expression. Because just like Tsunade, he knew what that sounded like and he found it even more amusing because he knew that Gaara was doing it on purpose to get a rouse out of the younger Uchiha.

Which, if he must take notice, was working quite well.

"W-W-Wha-What?" stuttered Naruto.

"Hmn." Taking a quick glance at the raven and noticed that the sharingan was activated. Causing him to chuckled internally at how easy that was. If he knew this back then, he would of began this usual antic a long time ago. "Quite literally I must say. Your enthusiastic greetings can sometimes be harmful to the body though. Especially with the landings. I remember one time that you greeted me near a thorn bush....."

At that Neji couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth. Surprising the younger ones that wasn't used to the more carefree Neji. "I remember that." he said as he turned around and took on a look of remembrance. "I remember picking thorns out of your ass for the next half-hour."

"As I said, harmful to the body."

Neji gave Gaara a looked of smugness as he said, "But the nice view I received was worth Naruto's cheerful greetings." Which resulted in Gaara rolling his eyes.

Naruto blinked at the two. "Wait.....you two....." his index finger flinging back and forth between the two. "Are you two....like....something.....together."

Gaara was the one who nodded, which had the blond's furrowing. "Then....that comment before....."

"Was Gaara's usual....game he plays to get under the Uchiha's skin." Neji answered for the red head, knowing the other's game perfectly. Since he played a somewhat similar game with him to get him to ask him out. "Which, by the way....." he began to point out to the younger Uchiha, "......seems to always work."

Sasuke glared at the Hyuuga as he inwardly felt relieved albeit angry that it was _purposely_ a misunderstanding of wording. _'God damn that asshole, playing with me like that.'_ Though it did work, now didn't it. He huffed and averted his eyes to the side in a grumpy manner, forcing himself to calm down so the sharingan would fade away. Which it did after a couple of breaths.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't something more, like he thought. He couldn't see himself cheat on the person he chose to be with......

Tsunade calmed herself down before she closed the distance between her and the blond's bed. And without a word of what she was planning on doing, she reached out for and grabbed the hem of his shirt. "What are you--" began Naruto but Tsunade interrupted him by stating, "Wanting to make sure you're completely healed."

With that said, Naruto relaxed a little and let her continue in pulling up his shirt. Once the shirt was lifted, a bandage covering over the are of the wound was clearly visible. She grabbed the corner of the tape--that held the white and blood stained--bandage and she non-too-gentle ripped the bandage from his skin. Resulting in a loud yell from the blond, "Damn it baa-chan! Can't you be more gentle!"

Though non of his outburst was heard, as Sakura gasped out loudly. She couldn't believe her eyes. The severe wound that was there and bleeding profusely was now completely healed. _'But that's impossible......'_

Sasuke had to take a step closer to get a better look at the area and not even a scar was present. Sasuke was completely flabbergasted, but it wasn't apparent on the younger Uchiha's face. But contrary to outside appearances, inside he was running through his logical part of his mind. Trying to come up with a logical explanation that could explain what's going on. Some out there theories came to mind, but non he wanted to humor.

There was just no way that a wound--in it's severity--could heal overnight.

There was obviously something that the blond wasn't telling them. And the longer he kept it to himself, the more hurt he became at knowing that Naruto didn't trust him enough to tell him.

"Well, as always, Kyuubi does a excellent job." she said as she let the shirt go, letting it fall on its own. "You should be able to leave by the end of the day."

_**'Ooohhhh, finally someone who appreciates what I do!' **_Kyuubi exclaimed with excitement that someone other than his Kit praised him.

Although, Naruto was feeling the opposite from what his demon was feeling. His body was completely rigid once the fox's name came out of her mouth. The only movement that came from him was his eyes glancing back and forth between his two teammates nervously.

Tsunade easily noticed this behavior, "Oh, they don't know......I keep forgetting about _when_ you three came from."

"Don't know about what?" snapped Sasuke, looking directly at Naruto in hopes that he would answer. But those hopes were dashed when the blond averted his eyes to the bedsheets. Ignoring the question so maybe that it could somehow be avoided. But he knew that it was only a pipes dreams. There was only so long before they would of found out one way or another. Though that didn't mean he wanted to be the one to do so.

Awkward silence settled in the room until Raiden, who's been standing in the doorway with his Uncle Shika for a few minutes, asked, "What are you planning to do about my Kaa-san?" Mostly asking this because he wanted to know and that this was the best time where they were completely cornered and really had no choice but to tell him.

All eyes turned to Raiden, who looked directly at his grandmother with a determination gleam in their depths. That gleam saying that I have a right a know and the younger three should too.

She sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get out of this one. He was WAY too much like his mother. Stubborn as a damn bull. "It's been decided that Sasuke will fight the parasite at the Valley of the End."

No emotion passed over the boy's features--something he learned from his father. The only thing that showed that what was said bothered him was the widening of his eyes and the red flickering through onyx. But even with his anger building under his skin, he forced out of his mouth, "And by chance, Tou-san loses....."

Tsunade kept her gaze steady upon the boy as she answered with a slight wavering of her voice, "If that happens......then there'll already will be people present to deal with the parasite--"

"NARUTO!!" snapped Raiden, interrupting her and causing Naruto and Sakura to jump from the volume. His hand reflexively punching the wall closest to him, his hand going right through the plaster and into said wall as his eyes remained with the sharingan within them. His voice lowered to a forced normal volume. "Kaa-san's name is Naruto." Desperately holding back the tears that were brimming his eyes.

The busty blond looked away from the pain and betrayal floating within those sharingan adorned eyes. She was already feeling enough self-loathing and disgust for herself, she didn't want to see and feel the waves coming off of him as well. "Raiden...." she began in an exasperated tone, "......that isn't your mother anymore. He's--"

"No!!" he yelled, cutting her off again as he yanked his hand out of the wall. Blood dripping from his hand to the slick floor before. "You're wrong! Kaa-san's still in there! Tou-san got him into control for a moment....." The tears that he was fighting back finally falling down his cheeks. "It might have been only a moment but......it was him.....it was Kaa-san....."

Neji closed his eyes, dreading what he was about to say to the young boy. "Even so, he's still a high risk to the safety of the village."

This comment caused Raiden's head to snapped in his direction. "Who are you?! You're suppose to be one of his best friends! And you would rather have him killed than to help him." The room suddenly filled with Neji's killing intent. The intensity of it, causing shivers of fear to run down the backs of Raiden and the younger three--who were planning on keeping themselves out of this argument. The three just didn't think they should have a say in this.

A hand settled on the brunette's shoulder, which calmed him and the killing intent down several notches. "That was uncalled for Raiden and you know it." stated Gaara with a few degrees lower than normal cold tone. "You and I both know that Naruto would want the safety of the village to come first before his own. Although, I don't fully agree with Konoha's complete plan of action. I do believe in Naruto. And I will fight against my very first friend to the death if that means to keep Konoha safe. Because that's what _Naruto_ would want."

Raiden's shoulders sagged in defeat at hearing his Uncle's words. His sharingan fading while his tears fell in heavier streams. Because he knew the other was right......

Through all this, Shikamaru stayed silent, leaning up against the entrance of the room. His attention fully on the younger Naruto and not once moving from it. The words that the older Sasuke said earlier kept repeating themselves in his mind. _'Kyuubi.....maybe......' _Unlike some of the others, who accept--albeit sorrowfully--so easily with the situation, he couldn't. His mind wouldn't let him. Like Sasuke's heart wouldn't let him.

Which brings us to his current foolishness.

He pushed himself off the wall and walked leisurely--on the side that Sakura, Neji and Gaara were on--toward Naruto. Whose body was shifting nervously and eying the lazy shinobi wearily from the predatory gleam in the other's depths. Sasuke also intently watched the brunette move closer to his blond. Wondering what the hell he was up to.

All the others focused on Shikamaru as well, their gaze falling like lead on his back as he stopped by Naruto's bedside. He leaned forward, closing the distance between him and the blond's face. The latter's eyes widened as Shikamaru got closer to him with each second that passed. While Sasuke clenched his jaw and balled his hands into tight fists at the scene.

He stopped just a couple of inches away from actually touching the blond and without breaking the eye contact that he made and never broke, he spoke evenly.....

"Kyuubi, I need to talk to you about the parasite that's currently residing in our Naruto."


	15. What You Can't See

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto own any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Fifteen

**What You Can't See**

Without breaking the eye contact that he made with Naruto, Shikamaru spoke evenly, "Kyuubi, I need to talk to you about the parasite that's currently residing in our Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened further but that was the only thing that happened before a ominous chakra began to fill the room, causing the air to become thicker; almost to the point of suffocating. Shikamaru stood his ground as he watched--with extreme interest--the transformation taking place between the normal Naruto and the blond with Kyuubi affecting his appearances.

_'Not again....' _was Sasuke's thought as he felt the chakra radiating off his blond. The same that's presently changing him like before. The same that sent shivers of fear down his back. But not from the menacing feel of it, but from the fact that he didn't know what was going on with him. He didn't know if whatever is happening could really hurt the blond or not. And he found that not knowing hurt.....

All the others stood calmly, except Sakura--who looked like she was watching a terrifying scene from a movie. Though the older presences looked calm, their bodies were tensed from the unknowing reaction this Kyuubi would have against them. The Kyuubi they were used to conversing with--even if it was only a few times--was more than willing to help them. This one--on the other hand--was the one when no one knew that he could speak to his host or seemed friendlier than they first thought.

After a few moments, blood red eyes with animalistic slits stared back at the brunette. "**You know lazy ass.....**" began Naruto with the sinister underlining tone to his usual voice. "**.....contrary to popular belief, I also need rest. Especially after dealing with that other Naruto and healing my brat.**"

Shikamaru instinctively moved back from the Kyuubi influenced blond. "Right.....but you're the only one that knows what's wrong with Naruto."

"**Yes, a parasite. Didn't that other Uchiha tell you that?**" His head moved, looking around the room for the older Sasuke. But not finding him. "**Speaking of which, where is that prick? I have a few **_**unpleasant**_** words to say to that egotistical asshole.**"

"He's dealing with his own problems. So can we--" began Shikamaru but he was interrupted with a snapped comment, "**What the hell is this **_**problem**_** that's more important than getting his mate and his kits back?!**" The fox's anger showing in the scowl on the blond's features.

"That is my problem." came a monotone voice from the doorway.

All heads turned in that direction and saw that the voice take from the older Sasuke himself. Who was standing directly in the middle of the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes, at first appearances, emotionless and staring directly into the blood red of the fox's. But Kyuubi wasn't like everyone else. He's been living in Naruto's body long enough to known how to read an Uchiha's impassive eyes. And those endless depths were swimming with immense pain.

So the growl that was rumbling deep in his throat died down and he just gazed at the older Uchiha intently. His red eyes seemingly calculating something in the head that they were settled in. And as short as this occurred, it stopped as Naruto crossed his legs--indian style--and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. He cocked his to the lazy brunette shinobi, "**What do you want to know about the parasite that you already don't know?**" Dismissing the other raven for the time being.

Said lazy brunette breathed out a breath that he was unconsciously holding. Thankful that Kyuubi's and the older Sasuke's interaction didn't start some kind of fight. Either verbal or physical. Without pondering on this further, he immediately asked, "How do we save Naruto?"

"**That's not really **_**about**_** the parasite, now is it?**" Kyuubi said with an lifted eyebrow, a little sarcasticness lacing his tone.

"It is. To save Naruto, we must get the parasite out of his body. So how do we do it?"

"**To the point aren't cha?**" he paused and with a sigh, he answered, "**If it was a normal parasite it would be as simple as snapping your fingers but.....it's not.**" his low voice regarding the last two words caused mostly everyone's insides to twist. Dread filling Raiden and the older people.

"Meaning?" This time it was Gaara who spoke with his usual emotionless tone.

"**Meaning that there's no sure answer if your Naruto can be disinfected.**" Seeing that most everyone's expressions resembled people that were about to all talk at once, he decided that it'd be better to explain before they all went off. "**See, in order to get infected by a parasite you only have to come in contact with them. But they have to target you first and they usually don't target shinobi because of their naturally strong wills and high chakra levels. Though that's not how your Naruto was infected.....**"

Neji took the other's pause to ask, "How would you know how he was infected? We don't even know."

A smug fox grin spread widely across the blond's features. "**Well, somehow a connection between my brat and your brat was created. Which as time went on grew in strength. Causing memories of his to particularly pour into my Kit. It got to the point where I had to block this connection. It was just too overwhelming for the brat.**"

"That's nice and all and probably will be discussed later but can we go back with how Naruto was infected and why you think he can't be disinfected?"said Shikamaru in an slightly impatient tone.

"**Damn, don't you become an ass.**" Which caused the male in question to roll his eyes. "**Anyway, there's no possible way the brat would be infected by normal means. So they infected him by regular liquid injections.**"

"Liquid injections?" repeated Tsunade, unsure if she really wanted to hear the explanation.

The blond nodded, "**Hmn. I don't know how they made an injection of an demon species but they seemed to have managed it. They inject it right into his blood stream.....**" He trailed off like he was remembering something. "**.....painful....like molten lava is flowing through your veins.....**" It was silent for a long moment before he snapped out of his daze and looked up to the others. Whose expressions varied from inquisitive to confusion.

And since he was such a helpful demon, he explained, "**My Kit's already experienced an infection procedure.**"

"What?!" snapped the younger Sasuke. "When?!" Terror and panic filled him that maybe his dobe would turn like the other one. _'It can't be possible! He's been with someone this whole time!' _

Naruto turned his head slowly toward the younger Uchiha and glared at the boy. Sneering, "**If you wouldn't interrupt Uchiha, I would be able to finish explaining.**" This caused Sasuke to clench his teeth to point of causing pain in his jaw. His eyes glaring at the blood red of the other's as he forced his emotions to settle. He didn't like any of this. The way the blond spoke, the way he look at him. It just wasn't Naruto and it was infuriating that he didn't know _why_.

The blond moved his head back facing forward, not really concentrating on any particular person. "**The first night before he woke up in that white room.**" He looked at Sakura and then cocked his head back toward the younger Sasuke. "**You two should remember how he acted before he woke up.**"

Sasuke's blood ran cold as his eyes released the glare he was relentlessly holding at the possessed blond and they moved into an widened expression of shock. He remembered that, because he was uniquely worried for him. Almost to the point of going into a full blown panic attack. Meanwhile, Sakura gasped at the memory of that moment when she was scared for the blond's health. It looked like he was in so much pain that it was terrifying.

"**He didn't actually receive an injection.**" Resisting the urge to look directly at the younger Sasuke. "**He just endured what it felt like to have one. And I can ensure you that it wasn't pleasant. Any questions?**" Sarcastically saying the last part.

Shikamaru's left eye repeatedly twitched as he spoke each syllable like he was speaking to a small child. "Dis. In. Fect." Completely disregarding the fact that he was doing this to Kyuubi.

The latter rolled his eyes and spoke in a exasperated tone, "**There's no guarantee. As I've been trying to point out, it's **_**not**_** an ordinary parasite.**"

"But you got Kaa-san back in control." Raiden interrupted lowly. Finally speaking after hearing everything that only made his stomach dropped further in dismay. He didn't want to think that there wasn't a way to bring his Kaa-san back. Especially after he found out that he wasn't dead at all. He wanted him back......he just wanted his Kaa-san back.....

"**No. Uchiha got him in control. I only gave the Uchiha the opportunity. And it wasn't even half a minute before the parasite took control again.**" A short paused followed before he began to speak again. "**I would say that your best bet is to unbind my chakra in the brat's body.**"

Tsunade nodded her head and said absentmindedly while her mind search through all the seals she knew that could be used for something like this, "I can form a team to look for seals and bindings that can block large amounts of chakra." She only wished that Jiraiya was still alive. He knew so much about different kind of seals and bindings. But that silly and futile wish never did any good before and it isn't going to change anything now. It'd only make her feel worse than what she already feels.

"**I doubt you'll find one. These people like to invent they're own shit.**" A grin appeared on the blond's features as he brought his hand up under his chin and interlaced his fingers. Leaning his chin on his fingers while he finished silently, _**'Which means I'll just have to break they're shit.' **_Lowly a chuckle followed, causing the other occupants of the room to stare at him oddly. Wondering what could be so amusing about this situation that it caused the demon fox to chuckle ominously.

That chuckle soon died, a thought striking him all of the sudden as he stared at the older Sasuke. And he had to admit, the Uchiha had some nerve. He didn't even make one move with his intense gaze directed at him. He even met his gaze with equal amount of intensity. A satisfied smirk lifted at the corner of his lips. _**'I can see why I consented to my brat mating with him.'**_

The younger Sasuke merely glanced between the blond and his older self, plainly seeing the intense gaze that was locked between the two. The intensity putting the younger raven on edge in a different way than being threatened. And he didn't like it.

Suddenly Kyuubi spoke to the older Sasuke in a tone that lacked the light undertone that his other words held. "**Uchiha**." He moved one of his hands and pointed to the spot in front of him. "**Sit**."

Though the older Sasuke didn't make any move to oblige to the blatant order. And really, he had no plans on doing so. He may be Naruto but he wasn't _his_ blond. And only _his_ dobe could order him around and him actually follow them. No one else could do that, and he _wasn't_ going to let anyone else do it either.

Several persons within the room furrowed their brows at the request. Neji was the one to asked the question on everyone's mind at this moment. "What are you going to do with him?"

"**I'm going to rape him.**" he responded in all seriousness but that was only in his tone. His face on the other hand held the clear signs of someone that was trying to hold in their amusement. He broke the eye contact with the Uchiha and looked over at the Hyuuga, laughter dancing within the red depths.

"This is not the time for your antics, Kyuubi." stated Gaara, who stood by the Hyuuga.

He drifted his gaze over at the red head before huffing and turning his head to the side indignantly. "**Did you all take by Uchiha's example and shove a stick ten feet up your asses?**" he muttered loud enough where all the others could hear his words clear as day. Though, of course, this was done on purpose.

"Kyuubi." warned Gaara, not wanting to waste anymore time than what was necessary. And the fox's mouth, they could be there all day.

The young blond turned his head back toward the red head and glared at the older man with slight contempt at his audacity. "**I would watch your tongue boy.**" he growled menacing. His chakra flaring out in a threatening manner. "**I won't be ordered around.**"

Gaara glared back with the same glare of death. "Then stop wasting our time."

Kyuubi growled louder, baring his sharp canines. Then he snapped his head forward and ordered the raven in a sneer. "**Uchiha! I said sit!**" Still no move was made from Sasuke in following the order. The blond's scowl turned darker when he didn't move even a muscle. "**You want a chance to find the location of your three brats, don't you?!**"

This finally got a reaction out of the impassive older raven. His eyes widened a fraction of an inch and his breath hitched at the sentence. His already fast beating heart took a tempo faster as hope built within him. _'Can he really.....help me find them?' _

He wasn't the only one that sentence got a reaction out of. Several heads turned more fully to Naruto and those eyes widened just like Sasuke's, only larger. "How can you find their location?!" frantically asked Tsunade. Her own hope gathering in the pit of her stomach at the prospect of getting the youngest Uchiha children back home and safe with their father.

But before the possessed blond could answer, the older Sasuke moved forward in purpose steps. Catching everyone's attention as he moved around and onto the bed, where Naruto indicated him to. He sat with his back straight with his hands laying on his bent knees. "What do I have to do?"

"**Question is, what are you **_**willing**_** to do?**" the fox countered.

Without skipping a single beat, Sasuke answered, "Anything." For his family, he would give and/or do anything to keep them safe. But even with this firm resolve, he failed in doing so. Not only did he fail in protecting his wife but he failed in protecting his children. _'Anything.....' _he repeated silently in his mind.

His body stiffening at that one word, the younger Sasuke watched as a smirk appeared on his blond's face. His eyes holding a mischievous seductive glint that caused his jaw to clench painfully again. Unexpected spike of jealousy coursing through him.

"**Well, aren't you lucky that it's doesn't involve something you might regret.**" Kyuubi said in an almost singsong voice before he dropped his smirk and switched his tone back to seriousness. "**Anyway, as I said before about the connection between the two Naruto's, before I blocked the connection, I received a considerable amount of memories from your mate. So I was thinking that if I put some of those memories involving the location they've been kept into your head, that you might recognize where they're being held.**"

"You can do that?!" Raiden asked as he stepped closer to the bed. "You can just show Tou-san where they're at?"

Kyuubi turned his attention to the oldest Uchiha child. "**No, I can only show him what the brat's seen. And hopefully he'll be able to recognize the surroundings.**" His attention went back to the older Uchiha. "**But I'm gonna warn you now. You won't be only seeing what he saw, you'll also be feeling what he felt too.**" Tilting his head, he looked at the raven with an almost challenging expression. "**Are you still willing?**"

"Yes." he replied curtly. Discreetly swallowing the lump in his throat at the thought that within the next few minutes he'll be seeing and feeling what his wife's been going through. What he so foolish let happen.

"**Are you sure? I mean, some of these memories might not be something you want to experience. Some are quite cruel.**"

"I told you I would do anything. And I mean it. Now can we get on with it so we can find my sons."

Raiden's head perked up when he heard the word 'sons'. _'They're boys.' _Was the only thought that ran through his mind at this new information. He had three brothers that he never met out there somewhere. In the hands of enemies that he has no idea what they put them through. He only knows what they did to his mother and.....A growl rumbled in his throat at the prospect of those assholes doing something as terrible as that to his siblings. To babies that shouldn't even be a little over a year old.....

Kyuubi held out his hands--palms up--toward the older raven. "**I warned you.**"

Without any hesitation he placed his hands--palms down--upon the possessed blond's before anyone could begin talking and asking more questions. That would only waste more time that he wasn't willing to waste. He had to find his sons.

The younger male looked directed into onyx, saying, "**Remember focus on the surroundings.**" before Sasuke's world went black.

_

* * *

_

Movement was the first thing that his mind seemed to notice. His body jostled like it was in a grocery cart and that grocery cart was going downhill on rough pavement. He tried to open his eyes but they wouldn't budge as the sound of footsteps, to close to his liking, rang through his ears. He tried again, his ninja senses going on red alert, but still they didn't open. 'What the fuck's going on?!'

_Then it finally donned on him. 'Naruto.....' His thoughts remembering the minutes before he fell into the darkness.'This must be Naruto's memories.....Naruto.....'_

_At that moment, eyelids decided to open, only for them to be flooded with light. Which caused those eyelids to close again and a groan to escape his throat. "Hey...." came a voice somewhere near. "....looks like he's waking."_

_Panic filled Naruto when he heard the voice that shouldn't be there. And in result, his eyelids snapped completely open, ignoring the light that achingly filled his vision and looked frantically around. Four different men were surroundings what Sasuke thought was a gurney. His body began to struggle against the restraints that were holding his body down. Desperately trying to escape but only found his energy running low with each pull and kick. _

_The one with green hair on his left leaned forward and the movement of the blond's head and body stopped as--what Sasuke's felt was a glare forming on his features. "Naruto-sama...." he began with a sickly sweet smile that made Naruto's stomach churn. "......I thought you were going to be a good boy for....." The man lifted his hand and brought it over the blond's stomach. The latter watching his every movement. ".....them." and as he was about to lower his hand upon the area, Naruto snapped, "Don't you fucking touch me!" _

_The sound of his wife's voice caused Sasuke's own breath stop in his throat and his emotions to spike painfully. His voice and the feelings that were flowing through his wife, feelings of panic and fear, made Sasuke wish he could just reach out and protect him. But he knew that this was only the blond's memory and couldn't do such a thing. _

_Centimeters away, the hand stopped right before it touched the clothed area that held Naruto's unborn children. "Maa maa Naruto-sama....." His hand moved from above his stomach and to his face, grabbing his face in a tight grip and bringing it closer to his inching forward face. "You will be obedient or else your previous little brats are as good as dead." All the while, that sickly sweet appearance didn't change at all. "Do I make myself clear?" _

_Naruto bit the inside of his cheek brutally but instead of what the guy expected to receive as a submissive answer, Naruto spit right into his face and then sneered, "Fuck you." Those two words dripping with a promise that he would one day kill him and kill him painfully. _

_The green haired male chuckled at the other's blatant action of disobedience and put some distance between them as he wiped the saliva from his face. Once this was done, he brought his hand up and backhanded Naruto across his face hard, causing his head to snapped to the side from the force of it. Before Naruto could let the pain settle, the male brought his head back forward with the same hand that hit him and said, "I don't take well to disobedience Naruto-sama. So it's in the best health of you and your unborn children if you're a good little boy and mind what I say."_

_This time, Naruto bit the inside of his cheek until it bled before he forced his face out of the other's hold and looked to the stone wall that was passing in front of his vision. His action caused the green haired man to chuckle again at his silent agreement. _

_All the while, Sasuke was growling and glaring--in a way he didn't know how--at the man that dared hit his wife in such an abusive way. 'Fucking asshole, you better be still alive. Because if my dobe doesn't somehow kill you, I sure as hell will.' he sneered. Opting out that it would be better if he let his anger flow in the forefront of his others emotions right now._

_Naruto silently watch the grimy stone wall pass, many sections having chucks missing. His eyes roamed up the wall and toward the roof, where the light fixtures were lighting the corridor that he was presently being taken down. A familiarity rushed through the blond's body at the structure of this place. But he couldn't exactly place where he's seen this place before. _

_Suddenly the scene changed where he was staring blankly at a stone wall in front of him. It was dark with the only light coming from the moonlight beaming through a small window high up on the wall to his left. Sasuke felt some kind of shackles around the blond's wrist and from how his arms were resting around his stomach, he could tell that Naruto was showing. He tried to keep himself calm as he felt the other's fear for their children flood through his system. Suffocating him....._

_Sasuke paid closer attention to the current surroundings, recognition hitting him like a tsunami. He knew this place, the structure of this room. It was almost the exact same architecture of the place that he spent over three years of his life in. New hope flowed through him, excitement following suit as this being the first time since finding out about his wife that there seems to be a light at the end of this endless dark tunnel. _

_Showing him that everything isn't completely lost just yet._

_He was brought back from his thoughts when he felt the blond's thumb rubbing softly against his bulging stomach, a single tear running down his whiskered cheek as he pushed himself up on his feet. Now realizing that what Naruto was sitting on was a simple twin bed. He walked, or more liked waddled, toward an entranceway without a door. Stepping through the entranceway and into the pitch black room, he felt along the wall--not bothering to turn on the light--and once he took a few steps, he stopped and lowered himself to the ground carefully. _

_Once seated on the cooled tile floor, he brought his knees up as close to himself as he could manage with his large stomach and wrapped his arms around them. His chin rested on his bent knees as he stared into the blackness. More tears followed that single one until he was fully crying quietly. _

"_Sasuke....." he murmured as he hugged his knees tighter. _

_Guilt built in a higher degree--momentarily overshadowing his other emotions he felt just a moment before--while the pain and sorrow did the same as the guilt. How could he have done this to his wife? How could he be so stupid to let all this happen? He was calling out to him and he was selfishly trying to deal with his own pain to not even realize that the one person he promised to protect with his life was suffering. _

_The scene changed again, his heart almost stopped when he heard the screaming from his love. Screams of anguish and excruciating pain. But there was something different about this memory, and he found out what when he turned slightly to his right and saw Naruto laying on a hospital type bed. Actually saw him and not what he saw through his eyes. And just seeing him before the changes altered his original appearance sent tears to brim his eyes. _

_He was currently lying on the bed with his up legs spread wide open with some female nurse seated at the end, looking straight into the blond's forbidden area. 'Oh god....' he thought as his eyes widened when all this added up in his head. 'He's in labor.' He quickly approached his wife and tried to touch him but his hand went right through his body. That's when he was snapped back to the fact that this was still only a memory. He couldn't change it, no matter how much he just wanted to grab his blond and take care of him._

_Another scream from Naruto ripped him out of his stupor and the sentence that came out of the nurse's mouth caused his breath to catch in his throat. "I can see the head! One more push Naruto-sama!" she ordered with excitement lacing her voice._

_Sasuke watched with shock and horror as Naruto pushed with all his might with a loud yell as he did so. A baby's cry filled the whole room as the nurse lifted herself from the stool she sat on. Moving from the cover of Naruto's legs and showing the bloody baby within her arms to the rest of the room. Sasuke almost cried out in joy at the sight of one of his sons he never seen before now. _

_The baby had black hair like his, his complexion and eye color were unknown from being a newborn but Sasuke thought he was beautiful. And just by viewing this, his already strong resolve to find his sons, strengthen impossibly further. _

_The nurse passed the newborn baby boy to one of the nurses to the side that Sasuke just noticed were there in the first place. He growled deep in his throat at the nurses touches on his son. Just knowing that they were working for the person responsible for all this, he didn't want them holding his baby. But dammit, he couldn't do anything. This moment was in the past and there was nothing he could change._

_So he begrudgingly forced his attention back on the nurse that was sitting back down on the bench in front of his blond. He took a deep breath to keep calm as more screams and yells of pain came from his lover. This seemed to occur much longer than it probably did, that is, until it was broken by another baby's cry. The blissful noise of another one of his sons coming into the world sent his heart thundering louder in his chest._

_Once again, the nurse stood, revealing his son from behind his blond's raised legs. And he was just as beautiful as the first. His hair being as black as his brother's. He choked down the lump in his throat and ran his hand through his hair. Keeping his feet glued to the floor to keep him from doing something completely foolish and having absolutely no effect. Desperate he may be, but he wasn't foolish when he already knew that it would only be an futile effect. _

_That damn nurse sat back down and said in voice that Sasuke wanted to kill, "Alright Naruto-sama, one more to go!" she tried to reassure the exhausted looking blond. Who pushed as hard as he could and faster than the other two, a cry of a baby resounded through the room. _

_The nurse stood again with a heavy breath with a baby boy in her arms that had blond hair. She walked over to the other nurses, each one holding one of his sons, and began to clean his baby's body of blood. _

_Loudly, he gulped down the sob that threatened to break free from his mouth, taking in each of his sons appearances in the arms of people that shouldn't have a right hold them. Let alone be near his babies. They weren't theirs and yet they weren't taking his children to their mother, so he could hold them. To get a closer look of who he's been carrying for nine months and going through all the torture for this one moment when he could see that everything was worth it in the end. But no, they were denying him that._

_Sasuke slowly turned toward his love.....and froze._

_Those once--as he remembered them to be--bright and piecing blue orbs were now dull and lifeless. Endless tears falling from his eyes that held a direct gaze with what was rightfully his. His treasures.....his babies....._

_His whole hold on his surroundings fell like a ball dropping once he took in that brokenness. His stomach churning relentlessly as the tears that brimmed his eyes all this time fell down his face in salty streams. He heard more than actually saw them take his sons out of room once they were clean. But he couldn't move as he watched his shattering wife curl in on himself and clenched his pillow close to his tear stained face. Audibly sobbing into the soft white pillow as he clung to the material like it was the only thing keeping him from falling completely into his misery. _

_Sasuke forced a sob from escaping his mouth, his hand unconsciously lifting closer to his blond. Wanting nothing more than to comfort him and tell him that he'll get their sons back to matter what it took. His hand came closer to a wet whiskered cheek, but just as he was about to place his hand upon the skin, a voice that resounded throughout the whole room called out his name. _

"_Sasuke...."_

_Which stopped his hand and caused his eyes to widen from the tone of the person's voice. Recognizing that voice anywhere, he thought, 'Naruto....'_

_He slowly turned around, toward the exit of the room. And his eyes went wider than normally he would allow when onyx landed on another Naruto standing in the opened doorway. This Naruto wore the exact same all black outfit as the infected Naruto. He looked the same as yesterday except his black eyes, they were completely sapphire with black lightning type streaks in the corner of his eyes. Just like when he managed to gain control for that single moment. _

_The Naruto that stood in the doorway, stood plainly without making a single movement. His expression impassive, revealing absolutely nothing but those piercing sapphires within that impassive face, spoke themselves. Those expressive orbs coaxing him to follow as the blond began to take a step back from within the doorway._

_With that one step that he took back, Sasuke took a step forward like he was in some sort of trance to follow. His hand that was hovering over the whimpering Naruto on the bed, fell softly to his side. That blond being forgotten as he was compelled to concentrate on the other blond that seemed to have more importance in this moment. Because deep down he knew that this wasn't Kyuubi's doing, how could it be? And if so, there must be a damn good reason behind why his dobe was here._

_And that's why, without second thoughts, he followed his blond to the right of the corridor that was present outside of the room. He obediently followed the other down many flight of stairs, through many corridors and taking a route that was like a maze to the raven. But he purposely attempted to memorize the way they were heading for possible future reference. Even though this route was started from a medical room and not the entrance of this place. _

_The Naruto in front of him abruptly stopped in front of one of the doors that lined a damp and crappy lit corridor they were walking down. Sasuke's heart jumped into his throat when he heard baby cries coming from inside the room behind the heavy door. _

_Naruto turned slowly around to face Sasuke. His hand brushing lightly over the partly fading numbers located in the middle of the door. Sasuke's eyes moved to where the blond's hand lingered for a long moment, examining the numbers closely, seeing that there were three numbers. The first and the half of the second one were the only parts that were still visible, the last number was already faded completely off. '24....' His eyes drifted from the door to Naruto, who was staring at him intently._

_A moment didn't pass before Naruto spoke with his voice echoing like it wasn't of this world. "You know where to search.....find them Sasuke...."_

* * *

With an unknown source of energy, he was pushed back into his own consciousness. Loud voices milled through his brain, causing an instant headache from the one that was already forming from the force that he was throw back into his own mind.

A groan left his parted lips while his hand lifted to his forehead and clung to the flesh there. He forced himself into a sitting position, how he got into a lying one was behind him and not something he was going to bother thinking about right now. Cracking his eyes open and insistently ignoring the questions that were surrounding him, he looked to his side. And there lying in an awkward position was an unconscious younger Naruto, surrounded on both sides of the bed by his younger self and his pink haired teammate.

He quickly dismissed the other's condition, it wasn't something that he needed or wanted to worry about now. He had other things to do, other things that were far more important in his life than these younger versions that could or could not have an affect on his own time. His family was his priority, nothing else.

"I know where they're at." he mumbled to hopefully shut everyone up. And once the last word was released from his mouth, it did just that.

Pushing himself up onto his feet faster than he should, resulted in him stumbling a little. Not yet having all of his barrings. He placed his left hand on the bed to stabilize his standing and stayed like that until his mind wasn't light headed anymore.

Gaara's cold and normally uncaring attitude didn't let the Uchiha get himself back together before immediately asked, "Where?" His voice actually filling with an emotion of anxiousness.

Sasuke looked up and into the green of the once jinchuuriki. Knowing that Gaara and his lover Neji were almost as protective of Naruto and their children as Sasuke was. Which is why he didn't hesitate in telling the red head, even though he particularly didn't care for the male. The two respected each other and that respect went quite far in Sasuke's book.

"In one of Orochimaru's old hideouts."


	16. These Wounds Won't Seem to Heal

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Sixteen

**These Wounds Won't Seem to Heal**

"I know where they're at."

"Where?"

"In one of Orochimaru's old hideouts." Sasuke stated with all of his conviction. His onyx silently threatening the red head not to contradict him in any way. He knew that was the place and he wasn't going to allow anyone to tell him otherwise. Not this time. He wasn't going to be foolish again. Not when it came to his family. Never again.

But what he thought would come, didn't. Instead, without any words, Gaara sent a silent message to the Hokage and exited the room before the whole room could erupt in questions. His departure being closely followed by Neji, who didn't look all too pleased with one of the possible locations that should have someone keeping reports on all the bases of Orochimaru's old hideouts. No, he wasn't pleased at all.

Shikamaru stepped closer to the still slightly disoriented Uchiha and looked at him straight into his onyx eyes that held red specks in their depths from the anger that was boiling just beneath the surface. He stared as far as the Uchiha would let him, telling him without words that he would do as much as he could to get his sons back. For Sasuke's sake but mostly for Naruto's. Who wanted the raven to have his children with him safely. Who sacrificed everything for their safety. For Naruto, he would put down his life to protect those kids.....

He turned his attention to the Hokage, who was checking over the unconscious blond with the younger Sasuke and Sakura hovering nearby, asking questions on the situation of his health. He could easily tell that the younger Uchiha was worried for the blond, even though he was trying to hide that worry. But since he was friends with Naruto, it involved being around the Uchiha more than he normally would have. And he's come to recognized the emotions that he only shows the blond and his children from underneath the stoic facade.

It was quite interesting to see the change between the cold and emotionless Uchiha to the loving husband and father. A switch that only occurred when he was with his 'wife' or children. But those moments just showed and reminded him that Sasuke was human and loved his family more than his life itself. And for unknown and extremely odd reasons, Shikamaru wanted to protect that human side of the normally stoic Uchiha. It was completely beyond him as to WHY but it most likely led back to a certain blond that changed Sasuke so much.

Tsunade checked the unconscious blond before her, making sure that no internal or mental damage occurred. Once this was done, she reassured more than once to the younger members of Team Seven that he was going to fine and just needed to rest some more. But after her aggravation got too much, she merely turned back to the older Sasuke and Shikamaru, completely ignoring the younger too. Addressing the two older males with the Hokage's authority tone and strolling passed them as she headed toward the room's exit. "Follow me." and she followed the same path that the red headed Kazekage took toward her office. Not bothering to look back to see if the two were following or not.

Sasuke was first to take the same exit as the Hokage and Kazekage. His anxiousness to begin searching through all the hideouts of Orochimaru's for his sons caused him to not want waste anymore time than what was necessary. And even with what's necessary, it probably wouldn't cause him to become any less anxious at all. He wanted to find them. He wanted them in his arms and not someone else's that didn't love them at all. That only thought of them as tools to use against his wife.

Shikamaru glanced over at the younger Team Seven with something akin to pity for them. Because unlike them, he knew what most of each of their futures held. And non of them held a easy path. Especially the two males. Their path was interwoven together with so many bends, curves, boulder like bumps and several dead ends. It was almost a endless struggle with them. An endless fight to find their happiness with each other. And that fight doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon.

He change his attention back to the matter at hand and began to take steps toward the door but stopped for a moment when he caught the sight of Raiden. Who appeared to be debating with himself if he was allowed to follow or not. _'When has he ever cared?' _Shikamaru asked himself as he passed the hesitating boy and said over his shoulder just as he was stepping out of the room. "Are you coming or not Raiden?"

Said boy jumped when his name was spoken aloud and jerked his head in the direction of his lazy Uncle. Only to find when his eyes landed on the doorway, empty. He blinked a couple of times and ran the sentence that the brunette said over in his head. And once he realized exactly what was said, he rushed out of the room at top speed to catch up with the others. Completely forgetting about the other three that were left in the room at the prospect of finding his younger three siblings.

* * *

"Everyone quiet!" yelled the Hokage at her now full office of people.

It's been twenty minutes since just Tsunade, Gaara, Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Raiden were alone in the office. In that time, Tsunade ordered Shizune to summon most of Naruto's high ranking friends and a few other Anbu that respected both/or Sasuke and Naruto into her office for an emergency meeting. To all of those six, that twenty minutes was the longest and probably the most nerve racking wait that they ever endured. And mostly all of them have been in some tense situations that couldn't even top this.....waiting.

And as Sasuke suspected shortly earier with necessary waiting, it didn't bode over well with him. Especially the ones that lagged at the end, causing the whole thing to be hold up even more than it already was. Every cell in him just wanted to leave Konoha and start the search, but he knew they needed other people beside them because there were over five different bases that Orochimaru used. And the more people they had the faster it could go. That's the only reason why he hasn't left yet.

Tsunade pulled out a large map from her drawer and unrolled it on top of her desk that she previously cleaned off in her wait. Once she unrolled it, she stood back and said to the whole group. "You were all called here because new information has been gathered about the youngest missing Uchiha children. We believe we have the location of where they're being kept."

After that was said, the whole erupted in noise. But one purposely made itself louder, "Where?!" That overly-eager question coming from Kiba standing by his wife, Hinata. His face and especially his eyes showed the shock he was feeling.

"I'm getting to that!" Tsunade snapped, "We have--" She glanced over the Uchiha's clan head before she looked back at the general group. "--_positive_ confirmation that they're being held in one of Orochimaru's old bases. And since there's seven different bases scattered all over the continents, seven different teams consisting of three to four shinobi will be sent to each base to search _every inch of it_." Making it clear that each one better be search thoroughly.

She was quite surprised when no questions were being asked, just determined faces and fidgeting bodies that she could tell were itching to get out of his this office and even out of Konoha to search for these children that weren't even their own. _'Brat....you would be so happy to see your friends right now.'_

Without wanting to become teary eyed in front of a room full of people, she began to immediately arrange who would be in each team. "Neji, Ino and Kanaye(1) step forward." The three mentioned step closer to the table, Ino and Kanaye having to veer around a few people. "You three will take--" she pointed to a spot on the map with her forefinger. "--this base near Degarashi Port(2) in Cha no Kuni(3)."

The three nodded their agreements and as the Hokage was calling out the next set of names, "Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata." they weren't back standing in the crowd. Except this time the three remained as a group. Not wanting to search each other out to leave right away.

Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata stepped forward and stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade's finger already pointing to the one they were searching through. "You three will take the base in Kawa no Kuni(4), near a village called Sareki(5)." Without missing a beat, she called the next team. "Anko, Taka(6) and Chouji." They stepped forward as the others went back into the crowd. "You three will take--" Her finger moving from location to the next one. "--this base in Oto(7)"

The three nodded in confirmation and stepped back as she called the next set of names, "Gaara, Temari, Taro(8) and Hanabi(9)." They stepped forward in front of the desk and looked down at the map in the place where her finger was currently pointing. "You four will search the base in Tsuchi no Kuni(10)."

Gaara gave a curt nod, knowing exactly where the location of this base was. For security reasons, he shouldn't really be going on this mission. But his insistence in participating in this particular mission, granted him a place in one of the seven teams. He wouldn't, for any reasons, not help in the search for the three sons of his best friend. No matter what the Hokage or his sister tried to convince otherwise, he was going.

He turned around and began to walked back into the main group, his three other temporary teammates following suit. Just as he stopped and stood in place, the door to the Hokage's office abruptly opened. All eyes diverted from the front of the room to the back at the interruption. A man that was non other than Kakashi stood in the doorway, his usual book no where in sight.

Whispers once again erupted in the room as Kakashi shut the doors behind him and walked through the crowd toward the Hokage's desk. He stopped right before it and said in the most respectful voice that Tsunade hasn't heard from the man since the day 'Naruto's body' was found. "I request a position in this mission, Hokage-sama." And the next thing shocked her even more, he bowed lowly to her. She didn't know what to do but let her mouth hang partly open with absolutely no shame.

This whole situation with him bowing caused the whole room to become deadly silent. Though, it took her a whole another minute to realize that he was still bowed and that her mouth was still hanging open. She closed it with an audible click and ordered as nothing like this happened. "Come here."

He straightened up and walked around the table with the same blank eye expression as he had when he entered the room. She placed her hand an inch above where his ribs were located when he stood in front of her. That same hand began to glow green and hovered over the area, checking it. Once she knew the condition of his previously eight broken ribs and punctured right lung, she looked up into his only visible eye with nothing that gave away her decision that she already made about his going or not. "They're not completely healed."

"They're healed enough." the gray haired jounin spoke defiantly.

She let a sigh pass her parted lips and turned back to the map on her desk. And with a glance at the man, she announced the next team, "Sasuke, Fujita(11) and....." A smirk forming as she purposely took a pregnant pause. ".....Kakashi."

The last said name let out the breath he was holding. Quite relieved that Tsunade was letting him join in even in spite of his not completely healed injuries. But those injuries weren't as bad in the pain department than someone might think. Especially when you're hype up on pain medication. But the older woman didn't need to know that little detail. That is, if she didn't know already.

He mentally shrugged his shoulders and stood next to his former student. Rolling his eye and turning his head discreetly in his direction, taking in the raven's blank expression. But this type of expression didn't surprise the older man in the slightest. It was the strain behind the blank expression that caught his attention. He had his suspicion that all this was taking a toll on the eldest Uchiha but he couldn't imagine this much. Even when the raven is under pressure, he usually can put up an realistic front of impassiveness but not today. It was clearly seen under the blankness that this whole situation was weighing on him terribly.

"You three will search the base in Kaminari no Kuni(12)." The three, with Sasuke's sharingan activated, looked closely to the exact location where her finger was pointing. And as she called the next set of names, "Lee, Gai, Tenten and Yun(13)." they stepped to the side as the four approached the table from different parts of the larger group. "You three will go to the base located here--" Pointing to that hideout. "--under the border of Kaze no Kuni(14) and Tori no Kuni(15)."

The three took in the location before moving back as she called the last set of names. "Masakazu(16), Kurenai and Shino." The persons that owned those names stepped forward and looked at the location that the Hogake's finger was currently pointing at. "You three will go to the base here in Hi no Kuni(17)." Once this was said, she removed her finger and the three stepped back into the group.

She glanced at the whole lot, feeling extremely proud of all of them. And after two minutes of her merely staring at them, she finally found her voice and spoke to the whole room, "Now I want you all to remember one thing! That these three children are exactly that, children! Little babies that should be home with their father and not used as leverage in enemy hands! I'm counting on all of you to find them and bring them home safely!" She glanced around again as many whispers of agreements filled the air. "Pack what you need in the fastest about of time and then immediately leave Konoha to your stated destinations!"

Her tone suddenly changed as she yelled, "Dismissed!"

And once that word was released from the confines of her mouth, twenty-three different pops and puffs of smoke erupted within the medium sized office. Fogging the view of the whole space, until it began to clear and only showed the seven remaining shinobi. Raiden leaned against the doors frame with his eyes unfocused and his arms crossed over his chest. Since he was still a chuunin, he wasn't permitted to go on this mission to help search for his own siblings. Which resulted in him not being the best-est of moods.

The other six shinobi were waiting to receive their orders also. Making sure to keep a good distance from the silently fuming Uchiha.

_

* * *

_

The next day.....

The younger Naruto and Sasuke stepped onto the path that led to the Uchiha household. There walk from the hospital being in complete silence, with discreet worried glances from Naruto at the raven. Who, from the outside, looked completely calm and impassive but inwardly, he was running questions through his head to ask the blond next to him once they were completely alone. This being the reason why Sasuke and--with not-so-much arguing--Naruto declined Raiden's offer to go with him to scout their burnt down house.

Although the two appeared to be walking alone, three Anbu ranked shinobi were trailing them. Personally ordered by the Hokage to keep an eye and protect the two at all costs. And thanks to Kyuubi, Naruto knew the three were following them and probably would of told the Uchiha but since his attitude didn't seem too friendly at the moment, he chose to keep it to himself. For now.....

Naruto glanced over at the sky blue sheet of plastic enclosed over a large hole that was in a the wall within the living room. Since he didn't get much information on what happened after he blacked out, he only knew that someone went though it. But he could just look at it and guess that. And since the only two that were injured enough to be put in the hospital were the older versions of Kakashi and Sakura, he had to guess it was one of them that went through.

A sigh released itself from his parted lips as he turned his head back forward and toward the ground. Not wanting to think about that he could possibly do this same thing in the future. That he could become the 'monster' that everyone in his reality thinks he is.

For the first time since leaving the hospital, Sasuke glanced over at Naruto when his ears heard the other sigh. Wondering what was going on through that blond head when he saw the far off and pained look on his features. He couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt that hit him from ignoring him since he woke up this morning. But his anger and some underlining betrayal kept him from even being in the same room.

Since yesterday, since Naruto passed out, he stayed by his side for a little before he couldn't take the quiet that was slowly driving all his questions and speculations through the roof and left the room to just walk around the hospital. He wasn't permitted to go outside the perimeter of the hospital. So at first, he stayed away from the blond's room because he needed some air. But when he found out that the blond was awake, he _purposely_ stayed away, not wanting to really talk to him for awhile. Though that 'awhile' turned into all morning.

His mind slowly snapped out of his thoughts, focusing on what was in front of him--the front door of his house. Sort of his house.....Anyway, this only sent him back into his mind as he thought about the other Naruto and all the commotion it's brought so far. Everything.....all the emotions and especially secrets that's popped up during this short time. All these things that he didn't know if he wanted to know.

The two made it to the front door and Naruto was the one who opened it without even asking the Uchiha. It wasn't like it was really his home. It was in a way but it was more like the older Sasuke's home and since they were BOTH allowed within the premises, he didn't think he needed to ask the raven permission to enter. And really, at this moment, he probably wouldn't of asked anyway. The other was just too much in a bad mood to even bother.

So he walked into the house with Sasuke, who was still in a daze, following right behind him. His hand automatically shutting the door behind him. Naruto looked at another hole in a wall covered in a sheet of blue plastic with sad eyes. That wall if he remembered right was one that enclosed the study. He solemnly turned his head in the other direction toward the living room. This room and the kitchen suffering the most damage. But all the debris that was previously sprawled all over the place was now cleaned up, leaving the living room looking completely bare. Since basically everything that once occupied the space was destroyed beyond fixing.

Suffocating guilt began to build in the blond, the pressure tightening in his chest as he glanced around at the damage that he basically caused. And it wasn't only the material damage that was causing such pain to run through his system, it was this damage that he knew he caused other people to create. The older Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura's collisions that caused most because of the attacks that the other Naruto created. The attacks that ultimately he will learn and possibly one day use against the people he loves.

No, he didn't like it. He didn't like this whole situation at all. He was the evil man in this twisted fairy tale. The wolf going after little red riding hood. And he didn't want to be like that. He didn't want to become that monster that he denied being his whole life.

A single tear ran down his whispered cheek and he turned to walk down the hallway toward the staircase. Without thinking over the damage at the bottom of the stairs, he stretched his leg out to one of the steady steps further up and pulled himself up on it by gripping the railing secured to the wall and pulling himself up. He proceeded up the stairs to the second floor when he was sure he wouldn't fall from the step. Not looking back to see what Sasuke was doing.

The latter snapped himself out of his thoughts and watched the blond the whole time he was analyzing the area. Watching as all the emotions revealed themselves within those sapphire orbs. All that guilt and sadness in those beauties. And when he saw the tear slither down the other's tan cheek, a sharp pain occurred in his heart. A pain that spread throughout his chest as he let his eyes follow the blond to the staircase and watched him disappear up them.

He stood in the same spot for at least three more minutes before his legs decided that now was the best time that they could finally move. So with his movement back, he followed the same path as his blond teammate, up the stairs and to Raiden's bedroom door that held the blond's chakra signature behind it.

Without knocking, he opened the door and walked into the room. His eyes automatically seeking the boy out and almost immediately finding him on the bed with his knees pulled to his chest and his head buried behind said knees. Another but sharper pain struck his heart at the sight. He cautiously walked over to the bed and sat upon it. His eyes remaining on the noticeably stiffening body of the other. The stiffening because of his already known presence.

"Dobe...." he said softer than he intended.

Naruto shook his head behind his knees and threaded his hands through his hair, tightening their grip once they were within the golden strands. "Go away Sasuke." he all but whimpered to the other boy. "I don't want to hear that you hate me, alright. Just go away and leave me alone."

_'Hate him?' _Sasuke repeated in his mind. _'Why would I hate him? Aggravated yes, but hate.....' _"Dobe, who said I hated you?" he, meaning to do it this time, spoke softly. Wanting to keep his voice low instead of raising it like he was, for a moment, intended to.

The younger boy slowly lifted his head just enough to be able to see the raven. Not really wanting to get his hopes up because hello, this is Sasuke. The most unpredictable asinine person he ever met. But he didn't want to lose his asinine bastard no matter what. Even though he might deny it if someone shoved it in his face, Sasuke was his most important person.

"Why wouldn't you?" He counter the raven with a raspy voice. "Everyone else does because of what's sealed inside me. What makes you so different?"

Sasuke quirk an eyebrow at the other comments. _'Sealed?' _Wondering what he was talking about. "If I knew exactly what you were talking about, maybe I could answer you with the complete truth. Because for all I know, you could have a split personality." He may have been taking a light tone with his comments but this might be the only way the blond would tell him what's exactly going on with him. He had a theory. But he wanted the absolute truth from the blond himself.

Naruto chuckled dryly from the 'split personality' remark but there was no humor behind it what-so-ever. Because he knew.....he knew that he would have to tell the raven his deepest secret that could possibly destroy their friendship to tiny bits. Sasuke could see him like mostly everyone in their Konoha, Kyuubi. And he didn't think he could take it. Not from him.

But then what Kyuubi said the other day ran through his head. _'Maybe.....Maybe he would see me like that. Maybe he'll see that I'm still Naruto and not Kyuubi.' _he thought with hope building and his courage rising. _'He won't hate me.....'_ he told himself firmly as he open his mouth and began to tell Sasuke the one thing that he desperately hoped wouldn't send the raven in the complete opposite direction than himself.

* * *

Across town, the afternoon sun shown down upon the seven persons walking down an uncrowded road, which rarely every became crowded of villagers. The group walked at a leisure pace for the smaller ones that were within their party. Making sure that they didn't go too fast for their small legs.

Raiden basically led the group with the younger Sakura a step or two on his right behind him. Unlike her other two teammates, she decided that she wanted to go with all the Uchiha children to their old house. Mostly because she could sense between her two male teammates, well mostly Sasuke, that they wanted to talk alone with each other. And since she's trying to distant herself from her crush on Sasuke, she didn't want to whine or scream about the two of them being alone. They needed some time together, to talk over everything that's really going on with Naruto. Which she's hoping she would be told once she was back within their presence.

Chidori walked on her brother's left, the same distance behind as Sakura. Her left hand held onto her sister Umi's right, with Popochi in the small girl's left hand, and held Sora's left in her right. Kaze walked between his older brother and twin sister, his hand grasping on Raiden's pant leg like he usually did with his father.

No useless chatter flowed between any of them as they continued to walk to a destination that only the three oldest knew of. The younger ones felt the tense atmosphere since they were picked up by their brother in the Hokage Tower, which kept their mouths shut. They didn't know what was really going on but Kaze suspected that it involved the person that was within their house the other day, destroying their living room and kitchen.

Unlike his twin sister, who was scared out her wits, Kaze paid close attention to all the noises coming from below and the presence that reminded him of someone long ago. Someone that was dead. And for being a six year old, he understood death perfectly. Because it was basically shoved in his face at a young age. That time changing him completely as he searched for the reason why he could never see his mother ever again.

_

* * *

_

A four year old Kaze wandered down a empty hospital corridor. The only illumination coming from the light fixtures above, lighting up the whole hallway. His heart pounded in his small chest as his sapphire orbs glanced up at all the signs above or by the doors. Looking for one in particular that he overheard a couple of officials talking about. Where he heard his mommy was being kept.

_He didn't know why his mother was being kept down here and away from them. Was he sick? Though, he's gotten sick before when he had to stay in the hospital but eventually they would be able to see him. But his grandmother told him and his sisters that his mommy wasn't coming back and he couldn't understand why he wouldn't. Tears sprung to the corner of his eyes when he thought of what his grandmother said. He didn't like it. His mommy never stayed away long, not if he could help it._

_As he walked further down the hall, he wiped the accumulating tears away before they fell down his cheeks. He continued looking at the different signs and name plates near the door, but non of them were what he was looking for. That is, until he came to a door with a sign that read, 'Coroner's Office/Morgue' . His eyes widened as he stared at the last word of the sign, remembering that word plainly as being the place that those men said. _

_His body hesitated out of a sudden spout of fear, his mind reading the white inscriptions over and over. 'This is where mommy's being kept.' And with that thought that raised his determination, he lifted a trembling hand toward the knob of the door. He stood on his tippy toes to reach it completely, placing his hand on the chilling metal. _

_Worriedly nibbling on his bottom lip, he twisted the knob with his full strength. And if he was older, it would of surprised him that the door was unlocked. So since it was, it opened with a slight pull from the small boy. _

_A light flooded out from the small opening from the inside, creating a bright line across the tile flooring. Kaze stuck his head partly through the opening and quickly roamed around to see if anyone was in there. The only things the room contained was a desk positioned further to Kaze's right of the room with papers, a potted plant and other assortment of items piled on top of the surface. A filing cabinet was placed in the far right corner behind the desk and various types of documents in frames and decorative pictures were hung all over the walls. Lastly, a self full of books and a few knick knacks stood against the left wall just before another door. _

_But to the young raven's relief, no human presence was within the room. He let out the breath he was unconsciously holding and hesitantly entered the office, tip toeing across the floor as quietly as he could just in case someone was behind the other door across the room. He wasn't completely stupid, he knew he wasn't suppose to be down here and that if he got caught, he could he in some serious trouble._

_He completely dismissed the whole room and went straight for the door that possibly had someone behind it. He swallowed the fear induced lump in his throat and approached the door. This door holding a large window that had opaque glass at the top part, showing that the lights were on within that other room._

_Once again, he wrapped his small hand around the cold metal handle but this time, he pulled down on it. And once again it was unlocked and opened once he pushed upon the door. Again, he stuck his head within the room first to scan the area for anyone. But nobody was within the large room. Only several metal tables scattered through the open space. Some of these tables holding large lumps covered with white sheets on them. _

_Against the wall, that was connected to the door frame, was a facet and black counter top surrounding it. Above the sink were metal cabinets that probably held all kinds of supplies and such. Small square metal doors lined the far wall, each of the doors having a handle that could open it. _

_Kaze stepped slowly, almost cautiously, into the room, closing the door behind him as he did so. Though this movement wasn't noticed as he had his eyes trained on the bare pale foot protruding from under one of the white sheets. So when the door shut with a audible click behind him, he jumped and yelp out slightly. Breaking the stare he had on the foot as he swirled around to looked at the door like it was current enemy._

_After several gulps of air to lower the fear that pump through his veins, he turned back around and his eyes automatically connected with the sickly pale foot. He forced his eyes away from the limb and glanced at the other covered lumps, wondering if what he knew was connected with that foot was underneath them too. Not really wanting to think on those things, he took slow steps toward the one that showed a body part and in about twenty steps he was standing right beside the metal table._

_Due to his height, the top of his head barely leveled with edge of the table. His head was turned up with his eyes looking over the white sheet, taking in the way the material fell on the body. While he unconsciously stopped breathing, his hand lifted toward the white sheet at a slow rate. Once his fingers felt the soft material under them, he gripped it and began to pull the white sheet to him. _

_The trembling in his arm began to become worse the closer the sheet came to revealing whoever was underneath its confines. But even with the anxiety that was piling up in the pit of his stomach, he continued to bring his arm down with the sheet firmly in his hand. And with one last tug, the sheet revealed the upper-half of the person who was hiding beneath. _

_Taking a step back, he rose higher on his toes and let the long breath he was holding go. Seeing as this male wasn't his mommy. With his breathing heavy and shallow, he turned his head partly to the left. Letting his darkened sapphires land on the next covered lump, which now he was positive was unmoving bodies._

_He walked over to it and without much thought, his hand lifted and did as he did before. His slow movements building the unbearable suspense within himself. But for some reason couldn't make his limb move any faster. _

_In a matter of moments, the sheet was pulled a crossed the face to reveal the identity of the corpse. Which caused his hand gripping the white sheet to freeze and his eyes to widened. His mouth silently saying the one word that he wouldn't get to say happily ever again, 'Mommy....'_

* * *

Twenty minutes later, he was found in the same position, helplessly staring at his dead mother. And just by staring at him for that time, he knew that his mother was gone. Dead. And once someone dies, there's no way they can come back. So whoever that was downstairs, it couldn't be what his mind kept coming up with. No, because that person is long gone. His mind and his desperate child heart, that partly still believed in miracles, was wrong. Completely wrong.....

He felt his brother stop in his steps, which this action brought the young boy back to the bitter reality, and stopped himself after he took an extra two steps before he realized. He looked up at the burnt house before them. A house that he secretly hated. Because those walls of that house held nothing of his mother. There were no memories made there that were even remotely happy to him, because his mother was already gone and non of them held him in them.

At least their home in the Uchiha Compound held memories that still floated around the home of the _entire_ Uchiha family. Even if it did hurt to have those memories floating around, at least there was something of his mother in those walls that sent some sort of strange comfort to him. At least it was something instead of nothing like the house in front of him.

This place that was nothing to him but a roof with walls that's meant to keep the weather out.

* * *

Naruto just got done explaining about Kyuubi and the sealing to the raven. Who was sitting silently, contemplating over everything that the other said. It wasn't really a lot to take in, it was just something that he needed time to run over in his mind a few times. To make sure he had everything sorted out right. "Hmn." was the only thing that came out of his mouth as his mind was preoccupied.

The hands that were wrapped around his tan legs tightened at the not really vocal response to what he thought was his biggest secret. A secret that he was terrified that the other would hate him for. And all he can say is, 'Hmn.' He was about to burst out crying right there. _'What if he does hate me.....?' _That thought alone almost sent him over the edge.

Sasuke was brought out of his musings when he heard a choked sob from the blond near him. He refocused his attention back at the boy, who now had his head buried back in his knees, and felt his chest constrict. He shifted his weight on the bed and leaned over, bringing his hand up and running that limb through blond strands. "Dobe.....What are you crying about?"

His response to his ministrations was a flinch and pitiful whimper from the blond boy that he cared about. His hand froze in the blond mop and his brows creased in hurt. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" he asked with the hurt he was feeling showing in his voice.

Naruto sniffled and nibbled on his lip, feeling slightly guilty for thinking exactly what the raven accused him of. He slowly lifted his head and looked at the other with his teary sapphires, answering the raven's question that way. Watching as the shock entered those onyx orbs with slight betrayal laced underneath. But he didn't get any vocal response from Sasuke, instead the hand that was still frozen in his hair, moved down and cupped is chin. Lifting his head up as the other leaned closer to him with is eyes locked onto his own.

The blond's breathing was increasing from the close proximity that the raven was becoming. He didn't know what to do. Should he let him do whatever he plans on doing. What does he plan on doing? _'It looks like he's going to kiss me.....Nooo.....Why would he?' _

And out of that small part of his brain, the part that was used to people harming him for what was sealed in him, closed his eyes tightly shut. Expecting the other to strike him out of hate. But when he felt warm lips gently press against his own, his eyes snapped back open. And once opened, they met smoldering onyx staring back into his sapphires. His heartbeat quickened, almost to the point of bursting when he saw acceptance, wanting and something that he couldn't identify in those dark depths.

Sasuke pushed everything that he was feeling for his blond to the forefront in his eyes. Hoping that they could say what he didn't think he could right now. He kept his lips immobile as he did this, waiting to see if his blond would push him away. But when nothing of the sort happened, he sensually moved them against the other's. Slowly in wonder if he would respond or not.

After the initial shock of Sasuke's lips moving against his, Naruto gently pushed back and tentatively moved his lips. Unsure of himself that he was doing this right. Sasuke's stomach flipped happily when he felt his blond respond to him. Feeling encouraged, he flicked his tongue out and licked the plumb bottom lip that was practically in his mouth anyway. Naruto gasped at the unexpected action, which gave Sasuke the opportunity to plunge his tongue into the hot cavern. His eyes automatically closing from the drunk feel the other's taste gave him.

Somewhere during all this, Naruto's eyes fluttered closed and his hands wandered into dark locks, gripping the strands in between his fingers. He moaned out softly when the intruding muscle in his mouth rubbed against his own tongue. Running along it and enticing it to play with it. And in a tentative movement, he licked the slick tongue before fully massaging the other with his own.

This action brought a throaty groan from the raven as he shifted his body again and began to lean into the blond with his weight. Slowly coaxing Naruto to lay back on the mattress. His left hand crept under the blond's shirt and roamed up the tan chest, while his right was flat on the bed, keeping himself propped up.

Unconsciously, Naruto spread his legs wide to accommodate the boy hovering over him. Only part of him acknowledging that he was now lying on the bed now, but not really caring one bit. All that matter to him was the raven above him. That was all that was running through his hazy mind right now. Nothing else mattered.

His hand that was still entangled in black hair, moved lower, feeling the muscles underneath the shirt until he reached his lower back. Then he slipped his hand underneath his shirt and touched the heated skin. Sasuke felt the burning touch of the blond and instinctively bucked his hips forward. Brushing his straining erection into Naruto's.

The latter broke the kiss and arched his back as he wantonly moaned at the wonderful pleasure that coursed through him. Sasuke groaned deeply in a combination of the pleasure and the sounds that his blond was making. His mouth made work of licking, sucking and nipping along Naruto's jawline and neck. Spending extra time on the exposed tan neck as his hips thrusted into the awaiting clothed pelvis of the other. Who bucked his hips upward to eagerly meet every thrust.

Sasuke sucked on a specific part of the neck before him that caused him to smirked. He licked then sucked on that spot again, which caused Naruto to moan out, "Sasuke...." That one blissful sound making his hips increase in there tempo. Also extracting a long moan from him.

A sheer of sweat glistened their bodies and their breathing was heavy and ragged. Their bodies moved in perfect sync as they moved against each other. This movement causing the bed to creaked from the force and strength they were using to reach their completion.

Naruto felt the tightening in his stomach. Tightening further with each thrust that Sasuke did against his erection. "Sas-Sasu-suke.....I-I-I'm.....ahhhh!" he attempted to get passed his lips through the pleasure that he was receiving. But it didn't matter, Sasuke--amazingly enough--understood what he meant. He kissed his dobe sloppily as he kept his eyes open to watch his face when he orgasmed.

He purposely thrusted his hips hard into the blond. Which gave him the result he wanted, sending his blond over the edge as he orgasmed with a scream that was stifled with Sasuke's mouth. Dirtying his boxers with his cum. Sasuke came shortly after with a loud groan from the mere expression on his dobe's face. Riding out his orgasm with jerky thrusts as hot spurts of cum dirtied his boxers.

Sasuke's arms turned to jelly and he collapsed on top of Naruto, breathing heavily into the crook of the blond's neck. Naruto's body trembled from head to toe from the strength of his orgasm and the hot breath against his neck didn't help his trembles one bit. He kept his eyes closed in hopes that he could hold onto the high that was streaming through him. Keeping his body in a blissful hum.

When Sasuke regained some of his strength in his arms, he shifted a little and began to place light kisses on the neck in front of him. Hoping his ministrations would let the blond know that this wasn't just a thing that happened but something that meant something to him. He smirked against the tan neck when a soft mewl came from the body beneath him.

"Am I gonna have to place you two in separate rooms?" came a awfully familiar voice from the direction of the bedroom's doorway.

The two froze, one jerking his head away from the neck he was playing with and quickly twisted it to the entrance of the room. While the other snapped his eyes open that were previously closed lazily in sinful pleasure and redirected them from the roof to the doorway like the boy on top of him.

Embarrassment clearly shined on Naruto's now scarlet face when he saw that the voice came from the older Sakura. Who was standing in the doorway with a knowing smirk on her features. _'Who knew they were such perverts back then.....'_

* * *

Chidori stepped over a burnt piece of--from what she could tell--a coffee table. Or what was. She was currently located in her downstairs living room of her old house, scanning over everything piece of chard remains. Looking to see if anything was salvageable. But with each _thing_ she glanced at the more depressing she became, because nothing seemed to have been spared from the fire. Everything suffered and was burnt relentlessly.

A child like scream of joy startled her out of her shocked minor stupor, and she quickly looked out one of the destroyed windows of the living room. Only to let the breath she was holding out when she only saw Sakura keeping the children preoccupied by playing tag. For a minute there, she almost thought that her mother was.....

No! She snapped her head in a different direction and closed her tear brimming eyes from what she felt. She didn't want to think that way about her mother. She didn't want to be afraid of him. Terrified of him.....

Her hands clenched painfully by her sides, trying to control her shameful emotions. Trying to stop what she shouldn't be feeling. _'I shouldn't be afraid.....He's my Kaa-san......Kaa-san.....' _The tears that brimmed her eyes fell soundlessly down her cheeks. The impact of two days ago coming back with a vengeance. She covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the sobs that threaten to rack her body. _'No...nonono.....' _

She collapsed to her knees, the wall she built to keep her sane and stable breaking piece by piece. Each piece falling and invoking the pain she's been trying to ignore for the pass two days. To remain strong for her siblings. To show that nothing serious was wrong. But......But......

A choked sob escaped her hands and then another. Her tears wetting her hands as she couldn't hold her pain in any longer. Each tear that she shed was a silent whine for her missing mother. _'Mommy......Ahhh.....Noooo.....!!' _She fell forward in a broken heap. Crying out without any hindrances or anymore reservations.

On the second floor, Raiden stopped in his steps and lowered his head in sadness at hearing his sister's cries. The brokenness that radiated all the way to him, clenched his heart and caused his eyes to close in hopes that this mere action could block out the sounds. But it was an futile attempt as he took a cautious step forward. Letting his sister have her time to grieve over their missing mother.

She needed this. In order to keep moving, you have to break sometimes. That's why he really couldn't understand his father. How he could still keep moving without even grieving once. Well, not grieving that he knows of. But he didn't think it was healthy to just keep everything in. To not have some kind of release. And from the way he's observed his father over the time that his mother's been gone, he merely ignores the aching pain most of time and when it becomes too much, he pulls back within himself. Becoming a cold bastard.

And if you didn't know what to look for, that's exactly what he resembled. A cold husband, who didn't give a damn that he just lost his wife. Because after his catatonia episode, he gave no indication that he did. All he did was go through the motions of life but not actually fully living it. But if you knew what to look for, all the little signs, you could easily see that each day was a struggle for him to even endure. To move forward without the one thing that made him complete.

Raiden ran a hand through his hair, now wondering how he got on the subject of his father's emotional problems. Or the visible lack there of. That was just too deep of a subject to ponder on while walking on a floor that could collapse underneath you with each step you took. _'No, don't need to think over something that takes my concentration away from where I step.' _he thought as he took another cautious step toward his father's bedroom.

He already checked his room and his other siblings room for any belongings that might of miraculously survived. But unfortunately and probably more tears to come from Chidori from this news, no such luck has arisen yet. He sucked in a breath when the floor beneath creaked precariously. Holding that same breath until he thought it was safe to let it out. The safe being when he knew he wouldn't fall right through the floor. _'Damn, this is bad for my health....'_

In two more steps, he--thank god--made it within his father's room with no more threats of going through the floor. Yet, that is. He hasn't walked around the room just yet. Instead he stood in place and glanced around the room, seeing if he could see anything that was visibly showing signs of life. But everything that his vision landed on was crisper than burnt toast.

_'Great...' _he thought before he began to creep his way over to the closed closet to his left. Without any worries from the floor, he stood in front of charred door. He lifted his hand and grabbed the metal handle. Only instead of turning it like he planned, the handle decided it would be fun to come loose from the door and fall to the floor with a clanking sound. He groaned and glared down at the handle that was silently lying there on the floor. Light glinting mockingly off the metal that wasn't colored in black.

With a sigh, he turned his attention back at the hole that once held a door knob. Another sigh escaped his mouth as he wiggled his hand halfway within the hole and tightening his fingers on the inside, he pulled with all his strength. He kept pulling until the door finally gave way and opened with a sickening crack of the wood. But this happened so fast that it resulted in Raiden falling back and landing on the floor with a loud thud.

This fall instantly had the blond freezing up and holding his breath for the expected collapsing of the floor, then the landing that would follow that would hurt his ass like hell. But when no such occurrence happened, he cracked an eye open and looked around like someone would be standing there laughing at him.

Breathing the whole lungs full of air out, he carefully pushed himself back on his feet and quickly but slowly moved from the area that probably wasn't safe anymore after that landing. Coughing slightly to regain some of his composure, he took one last glance at the spot that he landed on and walked forward toward the now open closet.

Though without looking at the other parts of the closet, his eyes immediately locked on the large metal rectangular box sitting at the far corner of the left side of the closet. His brows furrowed as he bent down, wondering how that one thing survived the fire when everything else didn't. He reached out his hand and grabbed the handle, pulling the heavy box toward him with some difficulty.

He looked at the front of it. The front had a flip hatch on each side but what he noticed were the small indent of letting on the top right corner. Showing the blond how it miraculously survived the fire. _'Fireproof....'_ he thought dryly. Give it to his father to have put things in a container that would probably survive any natural disaster.

Bringing his hands over to each hatch, he unlatched them and slowly opened the top. Quite curious as to what his father would put in here. When his eyes landed on the contents, a gasp came from his mouth as his eyes widened. _'Tou-san.....'_ The corner of his eyes began to sting from the tears that gathered from the happiness that rose within him. _'.....you kept the memories of Kaa-san safe.....' _

Those scorching tears fell as he looked over the several thick photo albums and DVD cases that held homemade videos within there black plastic. This whole metal box contained everything they had left of their _real_ mother. The time where the Uchiha family wasn't ripped apart and broken.

* * *

1) **Kanaye**--Is a made up male character with short; slightly spiky orangery hair with golden eyes.

2) **Degarashi Port**--A place located in Cha no Kuni.

3) **Cha no Kuni**--Tea Country

4) **Kawa no Kuni**--River Country

5) **Sareki**--A made up village located in Kawa no Kuni.

6) **Taka**--Is a made up male character with messy medium gray hair with the same colored eyes. A tattoo partly showing under his shirt covering his right side of his neck.

7) **Oto**--Sound

8) **Taro**--Is a made up male character with short; slicked back black hair with violent eyes.

9) **Hanabi**--Hinata's actually little sister. _(Just in case some people don't remember her from the anime or manga.)_

10) **Tsuchi no Kuni**--Earth Country

11) **Fujita**--Is a made up male character with middle back length chocolate brown hair; tied at the base of his neck with a hair tie and dark green eyes. The most identifying feature on the man is the long scar running from the bottom of his eye to an inch under his bottom lip.

12) **Kaminari no Kuni**--Lightning Country

13) **Yun**--An female academy student that was actually shown in the anime.

14) **Kaze no Kuni**--Wind Country

15) **Tori no Kuni**--Bird Country

16) **Masakazu**--Is a made up male character with rear end length black hair that's braided thinly. He has dark brown eyes and two nose piercings on the left side of his nostril.

17) **Hi no Kuni**--Fire Country


	17. Blinded

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Seventeen

**Blinded**

Rain clouds began to gather over the outskirts of Hi no Kuni(1), darkening the once blazing sun. Though this natural occurrence didn't even register in Neji's mind as he ran through the forest. His mind only on one goal and that was to get to his destination without the possibility of the enemies that might be there in finding out.

He pushed his legs harder, picking up speed by an notch. There was no need to glance behind him to see if his teammates, Ino and Kanaye, were keeping up because he could feel them increasing their speed also. Kanaye was a couple of feet behind Neji while Ino trailed behind both by a few feet. All of their cloaks billowing wildly from the rushing wind.

Neji concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet when he noticed a large lake coming up in their path. And without any kind of hesitation, he ran onto the lake with the others following behind. Once they were on the other side, Kanaye shouted for Neji to hear, "How much longer till we get there?!"

"Three to four hours." he stated flatly as the three continued ever forward to their appointed destination. Already knowing that within those hours, there would be no stopping.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto sat at the kitchen table in awkward silence. Surprisingly this set of wooden furniture surviving the attack that occurred on the kitchen. Not even a chair was broken. But this little fact went unnoticed by the two males of the younger Team Seven.

Naruto still contained the beat red shade on his face from the interruption by the older Sakura after his and Sasuke's _certain_ activities with each other. Sasuke merely sat rigidly in his chair and glared at the pink hair woman for said interruption.

The latter sat smugly in her chair across from the two. Her left arm propped up on the table with her chin laying in her hand. Her right was stationed in an over the shoulder sling, being broken from the fight with her former teammate. Other than that, no other injury or bruise was visible to show evident of the previous brutal fight.

This silence continued for several more minutes, until Naruto couldn't take it anymore and asked in a low voice. "Do you think they'll find Sasuke's kids?" Ignoring how odd it felt by saying that. It's definitely not something he'd ever thought he would ever be saying. Well, not anytime soon anyway.

Sakura's expression changed because of that one question, from being smug to filled with sorrow. She lowered her eyes to the surface of the table and mumbled, "I don't know." Truly not knowing if any of them would find the triplets or not. She couldn't be sure. Not when she, herself, felt so many doubts.

Lifting her eyes back up to the two boys, she continued with a forced smile, "But the best have been put on this mission. And if they can't locate them, then......" she trailed off, not sure if she wanted to continue on with what she was going to say. _'......then no one can find them.....'_

The tense atmosphere that seemed to have developed with the subject of the triplets, broke when the sound of the front door being swung open. The door banging on the opposite wall with a loud bang. Another loud thud followed the door's bang and an shout of, "OW!! My toe, my toe! Get it off my toe!" Then an familiar squeal of, "Oh, I'm so sorry!!" followed the shout. Causing the three to blink to themselves and slowly get up from their seats and go to where the commotion was coming from.

Once they made it to the entryway of the living room, all three slowly stuck their heads around the wall and glanced at the scene by the front door. Raiden was sitting on the floor and looking like he was nursing his foot, or more precisely his toe. A large metal box sat in front of him with younger Sakura on the other side of it and bending partly over it towards the blond. Having an worried expression and saying apologetic phrases to him.

Chidori stood behind Sakura and made attempts to look around the girl to see what was going on with the two. But with Sakura in her frantic mode, she didn't realize the movements of the other girl. The younger three children could barely be seen behind the two girls as Sora and Umi asked if their brother was alright. Kaze also was barely seen but unlike his sisters, he kept quiet and waited until they were completely let into their house. Which he concluded, didn't seem like it was going to come anytime soon.

The older Sakura stepped out completely into the hall that led to the front door and stood there as she stared at the children. "What are you all doing now?" she asked in a mock exasperated tone.

Raiden tilted his head back and looked at his Aunt in an upside-down vision. "Hey Aunt Sakura!" he greeted cheerfully. "Guess what we found in our other house!"

An eyebrow quirked acquisitively on Sakura's features as her eyes landed on the metal container in front of the boy. And just to humor the boy and possibly settle her own curiosity, she asked, "And what would that be?" A motherly tone and smile appearing.

The younger Naruto and Sasuke stepped into the hall as Raiden grinned at his Aunt as his answer to her. He lifted his head back forward and stood up on his feet. Waving off the younger Sakura's words of apologies. He grabbed the handle on the side of the box and indicated for the younger Sakura to do the same with, "Come on."

Without questioning, she grabbed the handle of her side and the both helved the heavy box up. Sakura having to use both hands while Raiden only used one as he cocked his head to the side to see where he was going. He preferred not to tripped again and this time crushed his whole foot instead of his poor--currently aching—toe.

Sasuke and Naruto watched curiously as the two brought the mysterious holding box pass them and toward the stairs. Chidori and the three younger ones entered completely into the house and closed the door behind them before following the struggling two. When Chidori came close to the younger males of Team Seven, Naruto asked, "What's in the box?" his curiosity getting the better of him like usual.

Chidori shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. He didn't tell me."

"Arg!" yelled Raiden when he realized the condition of the stairs. "How the hell are we suppose to get it upstairs?!"

The younger Sakura groaned at the weight and the stalling that was occurring. "You got it out of your house by yourself. This should be a piece of cake." she said as her breath came out slightly heavy from the strain.

"I _barely_ got it out of my house!" Raiden corrected her. "I almost fell through the floor in several places while trying to it to the bottom level of the house. I'm surprised that I made it out at all....." Shivering some from the close encounters that occurred.

Without any words, the younger Sasuke walked past his blond and then passed Raiden and the younger Sakura before maneuvering himself on the sturdy step further up on the stairs. He made an expecting face and moved his hand in a motion that indicated he was expecting them to lift the box so he could grab one of the handles. But when nothing came except for confused expressions, he said in an annoyed tone, "Well, are you going to lift it or not?"

And with a few blank stares and confused blinks later, it finally donned on them and they scurried to lift the heavy box up. Out of the corner of Sasuke's eye, he noticed that Naruto approached the two struggling teens with a smile on his features. That smile strangely being directed at him.

Sasuke quirk an eyebrow at the blond, silently asking him what he was smiling at. And what surprised him, he could clearly see the answer in his sapphire orbs. It was him. He was smiling at him because he unintentionally showed kindness that he usually keeps locked inside. He gave the blond a lopsided smile as he helped the two below lift the box to him.

"Shit." Naruto groaned out. "What the hell's in this thing. Bricks? And why do you want it upstairs? I personally think it would be easier just to have it downstairs!" he complained loudly. Inwardly thankful when Sasuke grabbed the handle that was lifted to him and began to take some of the weight that was leaning almost completely on them, off.

All the while, the older Sakura and Chidori, with the small children, stood to the side and watched with some amusement shining the depths of their eyes. Both equally wondering how heavy that box really was. It must be heavy, especially if it took four chuunins to lift it up a destroyed section of stairs.

"Because if I remember right, there's a DVD player in mine parent's room." Raiden answered to Naruto's question. "And the DVD player that was in the living room was destroyed."

"And pray tell why you need a DVD player?" questioned the older Sakura.

As the three teens below pushed and Sasuke pulled, Raiden answered cryptically, "You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you." And with one last push and pull, the box's end that was closest to the ones on the ground floor was finally laying securely on the stable step. Sasuke was a couple of steps further up, keeping his hands on the handle on his side to make sure that the box wasn't going to tip over and fall back down where it came from.

The younger Sakura breathed a sigh of relief that at least the hard part was over. Well, the extremely hard part. They still had the rest of the stairs to conjure. The other Sakura, on the other hand, furrowed her brows when something click in her mind. "Do you not remember Raiden-kun. You're not allowed within _that_ room."

Raiden rolled his eyes at her comment and sighed in annoyance. "My memory is just fine, Aunt Sakura. But is yours.....? Did you hit your head that hard? Because the last time I checked the person who destroyed that living room--" Jabbing his finger toward said living room. "--was my Kaa-san. Which means, that the body that was found in their room wasn't. So I see no problem in entering it." By the end of this, his tone had an underlining cold sarcasticness.

His Aunt lowered her eyes to the floor with a contemplated looked adorning her face. Her teeth lightly nibbling on her bottom lip. She obviously wasn't going to find out what was in the box unless they were in that room. And if the only way she was going to find out, she would have to agree. Then so be it. "Fine. What are you waiting for."

The oldest blond grinned madly and immediately began to push the box further up so he could step onto the step that it was currently resting on. With this movement being unexpected, Sasuke grunted lowly and stood back up on his feet. Quickly taking a step up before he was run over by the box, thanks to the blond underneath. And after a couple of seconds to regain his footing, he began to pull.

Naruto and the younger Sakura glanced at each other. Seemingly being left out as the other blond took charge of pushing. But as they looked at each other, both silently agreed to let those two handle it if they wanted to so badly.

Once the two _manly_ boys managed to get the box further up, Raiden climbed up onto the sturdy step as Sasuke held the box in place. Raiden re-gripped the handle when he was steady on his feet and picked his end up. Sasuke did the same and the two began to trek the rest of the way up the staircase. This time with much more ease than the process of getting it over the destroyed portion of stairs.

The younger Sakura was the next to get up the stairs and with some help from Sakura, Chidori went up next. Both of the girls waited on the lowest sturdy step for Naruto to lift the children up.

Naruto bent down to the child closest to him, which happened to be Sora. The little girl looked up into his sapphire eyes that were identical to her own and tilted her head to the side. He smiled at her, "Want to go for a ride?"

He didn't get any verbal response, only a nod of her head. And with that, he announced cheerfully, "Alright!" and he lifted her up into his arms. He exaggeratedly swung her up and towards Sakura and Chidori. She giggled softly as she was being swung through the air and when she got close to the two girls, they caught her easily and safely before steading her on her feet.

"Who's next?!" Naruto asked as he swirled back around to the other two children left.

Umi immediately lifted her hand that wasn't holding Popochi high into the air, and shouted with glee, "Me next! Me next!" and bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Alright, you next!" he said with a large grin at the girl's child antics. He lifted her up into his arms dramatically and swung her up to Sakura and Chidori. Who also caught her with ease like her sister. "Whee!! Can I do that again?!" Umi asked with hope shining clearly in her sapphire depths.

"No no Umi...." stated her older sister, Chidori with mock firmness. ".....this isn't some game." Umi pouted at being denied, which Naruto chuckled lowly at as he turned to the last child that needed to get up the stairs.

Kaze stared at Naruto with unreadable eyes. Watching the familiar mannerisms that inwardly made him want the other to just go away. To stop reminding him of what he could never have again. He knew that the blond was his mother but not at the same time. And he didn't like the confusing emotions that came with it. So, when Naruto came to pick up the boy, Kaze stepped back from him. Not wanting to held by him. It just wasn't right or fair to get used to something and then having it taken from you.

Naruto retracted his hands slightly from the boy with hurt showing in his eyes. _'Did I do something?' _But that was scratched out when the boy opened his mouth and said, "You're not my mommy." This had Naruto frozen with his eyes wide.

The older Sakura snapped her head to the small raven as she kept opening her mouth and closing it, not sure what to say to that comment. Should she reprehend him for saying something like that? No....technically this Naruto isn't really his mother. But then again, genetically he is. Arg....she didn't know! So, taking the safe route, she settled with a harsh, "Kaze-kun!" and left it at that.

Snapping out of his stupor, Naruto gave the boy a sympathetic expression. "I never said I was."

"Then stop acting like him." Kaze said flatly, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Naruto forced a chuckle passed his lips at the kid's attitude. _'Definitely has Sasuke's 'I have a stick up my ass' attitude.' _His hand lifted and rubbed the back of his head nervously. This caused Kaze's eye to twitch at the familiar gesture and order, "Stop." His chest hurting at the familiarity of it all.

Naruto lowered his hand and also lowering his features back into his sympathetic one, "You know it's kind of hard to stop something that comes naturally. It's just my personality. I'm sorry that it reminds you of your mother but I can't help that." He stretched his arms out. "Now, come on."

Kaze's eyes widened ever so slightly at the command that was under the blond's last sentence. He knew he didn't mistake it for anything else. It was same tone that his mother used to them when they were doing something they shouldn't. A tone that even if this Naruto wasn't really his mother, he would listen to because he never enjoyed seeing his mother mad. And the boy before him had the same features as his mother. Even though they were younger, they were still the same.....

He let a long breath out and took a small step forward. His white teeth nibbling on his bottom lip at giving in to this Naruto. He took another step, which resulted in him standing in front of the blond. Begrudgingly, he lifted his arms and rigidly wrapped them around the blond's neck. While said blond enclosed his own arms around the raven's small waist and lifted him up as he stood.

The older Sakura had to say, she was impressed. Kaze, the little brat, usually only obeys his father or his two old siblings, rarely anyone else. Hell, he barely even listens to her. But from the way Kaze was speaking to the younger Naruto, which would never happen with the older Naruto, she was almost sure that he wasn't going to give in. She was quite surprised though, when he did. But she guessed that even he was affected by the similarities between the two. Especially since they're basically the same person.

As Naruto walked the short distance to the stairs, he commented to the boy in his arms, "You now, you are too much like Sasuke-teme." This caused a small smile to form on the boy's face. Being quite proud that he takes after his father.

Naruto swung the boy up to the two girls and once again they caught the child with ease. He then turned to look at the older Sakura and asked, "Need any help getting up?"

She looked indignantly at the blond boy. She was a jounin for god's sake. She can easily get up there with only one hand. "Yes, I'll be fine." she said in an snippy kind of tone.

He put his hands up in surrender and turned toward the stairs. Gripping the railing on the wall and hefting himself up as the others, who were already there, moved further up to make room for him. He turned back around to look at the older Sakura, whose moved closer to the stairs with her hand already gripping the railing. He moved further up the steps, resulting in the others behind to do the same.

She hiked her leg to the sturdy step and hefted herself up with her good arm. She gave Naruto a smug smile but that was before she was completely steady on the step. And since she didn't have her complete concentration on her task, her foot slipped with a gasp from her mouth and she felt herself fall backwards.

Instinctively, Naruto shot his right arm out and grabbed her good arm that was still positioned on the railing. He placed his left on the other wall next to it as his right was yanked from the weight of the pink haired woman. And with one good hard yank, she was on the stairs safely. "Can get up them just fine, huh?"

The older Sakura scowled and huffed to herself as she got back on her feet and maneuvered her way up the stairs to the second floor. Naruto chuckled lowly while turning his head to the only other people on the stairs. The younger Sakura and Chidori, the smaller children followed the other Sakura, merely stared at him. And with those looks he was receiving, it caused Naruto to falter in his amusement and almost instantly stopped before the two could lash out.

He mock coughed before getting to his feet and passing the two girls. Those two sharing a look before following the blond.

* * *

The trees zoomed by the four's vision like a barely visible blur as they traveled at an incredible speed. The chilly wind whipping against their mask covered faces as Temari, Taro and Hanabi ran on the ground and through the trees by foot while Gaara traveled on his sand through the air. Though this coldness barely got any response in the narrow route in their one track minds at the moment.

The four quickly transitioned from woods into a clearing with overgrown tall glass that reached their waists. And in a matter of seconds, they were at the middle of the clearing. But just as they reach the half way mark, their one track minds were abruptly interrupted when a set of kunai came plummeting towards them.

Temari and Taro skidded to a stopped, Hanabi flipped backwards and Gaara swerved to avoid being struck by any of the kunai's. Gaara called his sand back and landed on the ground with unnatural grace. His bright green eyes showing an cold anger that would have normally made any respectable shinobi piss their pants and run away with their tails between their trembling legs. But no, they had to be like that damn Uchiha and be an arrogant bastard.

So with an uncharacteristic growl passing his lips, he charged at the three that threatened to stall them in their mission.....

* * *

Meanwhile, Raiden and Sasuke went down the hall and turned into another hallway that led to Chidori's, Raiden's and the Uchiha children's parents room. The two walked down that hallway until they came to the door with the crime tape across the front. Both stared at it with unreadable eyes as they slowly placed the box on the floor with a small thud. Their eyes never removing themselves from in front of them.

Sasuke was the first to remove his eyes away from the door and turned his head slightly to the blond. Where he could see the small trembling in the boy's arms and the paleness that his complexion had become. "Do you want me to open it?" Sasuke offered.

This snapped the boy's attention to Sasuke and said a quick, "No." and then continued in a much lower voice, "I can do this." His brave words from earier completely forgotten.

He lifted his hand up inch by inch until his fingers held some of the crime tape. He quickly yanked his hand down, pulling off all the tape with it. And before he could think about what he was about to do, he lifted his leg and kicked the door open. Mentally thanking whoever was listening that his father didn't put some sealing jutsu's over the whole room. That would have been an bitch.

Once this was done, he took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and hesitantly--oh so hesitantly--peeked within the room. And his breath hitched at the appearance that basically looked exactly as he last saw it. The only major thing that was different was the inch or so layer of dust that covered over everything. And, of course, the blood that was suppose to be dried and covering the walls, floors and bed. But other than that, it was the same.

Without taking his attention from the achingly familiar space, he lowered slightly and re-grabbed the handle on the box. Sasuke doing the same, quite curious to what it looked like within, since from his angle he couldn't see much.

The two entered the room with much reluctancy from the blond in front. Though the raven in back eagerly glanced around the spacious space with much interest. First taking in the unmade king sized bed that had a black comforter with orange top sheet and light gray sheets around the top mattress. The box-spring had the same color of black as the comforter around it. On top of the bed only held two large black and orange pillows. While, as he could see, upon the floor laid three smaller light gray pillows.

The night table that--most likely at one point--stood straight, was lying on it's side while the lamp that was placed upon it was smashed to pieces by it. Along with other items that had once occupied the surface. The other night table on the other side of the bed was still standing and looked like it's been that way for years.

Two windows were closed with beige curtains to the left of the bed. And opposite of that bed, across the room, was a large entertainment center. With a large screened television on top and stereo with tons of cds on several of the other shelfs. Other odds and ends were also present on other shelves. A large wooden dresser stood at the right of the room with several pictures positioned on top of it.

Three different doors were also present. One, as Sasuke knew, led to the connecting bathroom while the other two led to a joint walk-in closet. But what really caught his attention was the spots in the dust that wasn't so thick as the other areas. Like there was something there at one point but wasn't there now.

They moved across the room and placed the box down on the floor. And not a moment later, the older Sakura stood in the doorway with the three youngest behind her. A deep frown marring her features as her sea-green eyes stared blankly into the room. Her mind playing the scene of that one horrible day, where she walked in only to find Sasuke curled up against the wall and Naruto......Tears sprung to her eyes at the image. Something that she's been trying to never think of ever again.

But what brought her out of that day, was....."Has your father had this room cleaned?" she asked as she took a small step within the room. Giving just enough room for the smaller children to squeeze through and also enter.

"You noticed too, huh?" Raiden said, looking around the room that now really only needed a good dusting. "You know as well as I do, that Tou-san wouldn't have step foot or let anyone else for that matter, step foot within this room even if his life depended on it." He paused shortly, bringing his head to face his Aunt. "But then.....where did all the blood go?"

"It disappeared." stated Naruto from the doorway before anyone else could say anything.

All eyes turned to him as he continued to walked into the room and stood in front of the bed, leaning himself against one of bedposts slightly. Raiden was the first to speak up among them, "How to you know that?" But Naruto didn't answer, only stared between them.

Sasuke stared at the blond suspiciously until the answer came to him as a form of a nine-tailed fox. "Because you have some of his memories." His tone holding an accusation that Naruto couldn't understand why it was there to begin with. He didn't do anything.....that he knew of.

Just as the younger Sakura and Chidori reached the doorway to the tense filled room, the older Sakura asked with unknown anger in her voice, "How much do you know?"

After a moment's hesitation, Naruto answered lowly, "Too much."

The younger Sakura glanced at the everyone's face, except for Chidori's and the smaller children's. "What's going on?" she asked with wary in her voice as her eyes scanned everyone again.

Sasuke's jaw clenched angrily before grinding out through his teeth, "Just finding out what else the dobe's been hiding?" And here he thought that after finding out about Kyuubi, that he would be trusted by the blond. It seems like he was wrong. Naruto didn't trust him. Not even with this information that they basically already knew. But he only thought that Kyuubi knew of those memories, not Naruto.

_'Oh....'_ Naruto thought, looking at the raven, _'....that's why.'_ It's because he didn't tell him. Because he stupidly thought that it wasn't something important to even mention. But obviously what he thought wasn't important, was to the raven. Something he just didn't understand. Or just wasn't used to. To have someone there that actually cared what was happening to you. It was something he never had. And only recently began getting.

He was snapped out of his thoughts with the older Sakura repeated the same question from before. Only this time her voice was older and held more authority behind it. "How much do you know?!" her authority cracking, "Do you know how this happened? How all t-this happened?" her voice breaking, tears swelling in the corner of her eyes.

Naruto looked down at the floor and then back up at her. "I-I....N-Not exactly....."

"Tell me how this happen!!" her tone causing Naruto to flinch like something just hit him. His teeth bit down on his lip, fighting with himself on an decision that could possibly cause him a lot of pain. Pain that he particularly didn't want to endure. But seeing the desperate pain in his older female teammate's eyes resulted in his teeth letting go of his lip and barely saying, "Do you really want to know." and when he received a curt nod, he agreed, "Fine."

_'Kyuu.....' _Naruto tried once, knowing that the fox was sleeping. _'Kyuu.....' _he tried again. Always finding it quite difficult in waking the sleeping beast. _'KYUU!!'_

He mentally felt a startled jump and then a booming, _**'DAMMIT, WHAT!! I'm trying to sleep here!!' **_But Naruto didn't let the fox's tone get to him as he said calmly, _'I need you to take the barriers down.'_

_**'What was that?'**_ Kyuubi asked sarcastically, _**'Because for a second there, I thought I heard you ask for something utterly STUPID!' **_

_'Just take them down.'_

_**'Kit, it's seriously a bad idea.' **_the fox tried to reason. _**'I had a hard time placing those things up the last time because something else was occurring. I'm not sure what but something was definitely happening. Something that I don't want to find out about.'**_

_'Take them down.' _Naruto said again, but this time his voice held a flatness to it. Which clearly showed that he was losing his patience.

_**'Alright brat, but it's your migraine.....or worse.....'**_

* * *

The surroundings passed quickly in nothing was a blur, the temperature slowly dropping the further North they went. Sasuke, Kakashi and Fujita kept to the treetops as like the other teams, their mind was completely on the mission they were. Their only focus was getting to their destination in as little of time as possible.

Sasuke led the small group with Fujita closely behind, then Kakashi taking up the rear. Non of them having taken a break for _anything_, not even to catch their breath. Though, of course, non of them actually made any comments that a break from needed. Well, actually the latter two of the three, didn't dare ask for a break. Not when the Uchiha clan head would only consider it wasting time and they knew for a fact that he would rather kill the both of them before doing so.

These were Sasuke's kids and when his family's safety is threatened, it's better to get out of his way or just shut up and follow. But NEVER try to get in his way. That is, unless you're suicidal.

The sped on through the terrain. But Sasuke never really saw exactly what was in front of him. All he could really she was the end of the path. Where there was nothing but his three boys there waiting. Just remembering those three being born sent a spout of energy through him. Just having that knowledge that this path could possibly lead him to his children, made his legs move faster to get to that end. To get to them so he could hold the sons he never had the pleasure of holding.

And then.....just then, he might have a reasonable chance to get his wife back. To reform the family that once was and thought could never be again. To mend what is broken.....

_'Don't worry, dobe.....I'll make sure our sons are out of the enemies hands.....'_

* * *

1) **Hi no Kuni**--Fire Country


	18. An Unexpected Visit

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Eighteen

**An Unexpected Visit**

An agonizing groan passed from Naruto's lips, as Kyuubi let the barriers holding the other Naruto's memories back to flood his mind like a rapid river flowing. Letting the memories to show images and scenes of a life that could be. His hands automatically flew up to his head, and clenched into his blond hair from the speed they were filling his head. His eyes shut tightly, trying to keep his focus and find the ones that needed to be known. But with the speed they were flashing from one to the other, they were already indistinguishable from each other. Everything was just bleeding together; the images and sounds being nothing but streams of colors and buzzing of noises. He couldn't even hear Kyuubi anymore through the loud mixing of noises. Nothing, but the overwhelming memories overloading his system.

Tensely, Sasuke kept his eyes on his struggling blond. Watching the pain cross his sweat covered features, and measured how badly it was becoming by the tan hands that were already gripping so tightly they were pulling out strands of hair between his fingers. He pulled his eyes away from his blond, and glanced at the older Sakura, hoping to see if she was going to make any move to stop him. But when he saw the determination in her irises—guilt too, but the determination was outweighing the guilt—he chose to take things into his own hands. He didn't care if he felt slightly untrusted from his blond, but he wouldn't let him hurt himself.

A pain filled scream from Naruto froze Sasuke to the spot before he could even move a step closer to the blond. Who was now curled up in a fetal position with his hands still firmly attached to his hair. Forcing himself to move, Sasuke—in only two strides—bent next to Naruto and pulled him into his lap. Cradling him and trying—unsuccessfully—to calm him.

He attempted to detach the death hold that Naruto had in his hair. Though he was only successful with one hand, which once it was detached, it latched on his shirt. Gripping the material as tightly as he was with his hair, surprising Sasuke that he hasn't pulled larger chucks of hair than he's already has out. Another painful whine came out Naruto's lips, causing Sasuke to whip his head in the older Sakura's direction. "I hope you're fucking enjoying this."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god . . ." murmured the older Sakura. Her hands over her mouth with tears leaking out of her eyes. Extreme guilt and remorse finally taking over her trembling body. But Sasuke didn't give a damn about this. It was her persistence that pushed Naruto into this, so her feeling meant nothing right now.

"How do we stop this?" he demanded of her.

She dropped to her knees with her head shaking back and forth. "I-I do-don't know . . ." she confessed, "We-We've never fixed it. It wa-was always h-him."

This wasn't what Sasuke wanted to hear. How were they suppose to help Naruto, if they didn't know how? He was forced back to focus on Naruto, when he began to convulse in his arms. Yells of pain falling from his mouth in streams of spikes that struck him every time they left his mouth. He tightened his hold on his blond, trying to retrain him from causing harm to himself. Helplessness making itself known when there was nothing else he could do . . .

The older Sakura pulled herself together quickly, and rushed over to Naruto's side. Helping Sasuke in holding him down, so he couldn't hurt himself. _'What have I've done?' _

Raiden ran a shaky hand through his hair, stupidly thinking that maybe they would be able to have a somewhat normal event without anything dramatic to happen. What a foolish thought to have. He turned his head away from the sight of the withering blond to the window located to his right. Staring out at the bright sky outside that held non of its brightness within this room. This room that will only hold in the misery. He tried to force the sounds of pain from his ears, but it was futile. They were filling the room with its sharp intensity, causing him to cringe as each one was let loose.

There had to be a way to stop what was happening to Naruto. He didn't know how long he could continue to listen. His siblings and the younger Sakura have already left the room from the scene happening on the floor. He was on the verge in following them. But the hope that maybe Kyuubi might intervene any minute kept him from moving from his spot. That in any minute the terrible sounds would lessen, and the sighs of relief would be heard.

A minute passed.

Then another thirty seconds, before he realized that Kyuubi wasn't—no _couldn't_ come to the rescue this time. Something was different about this. If Kyuubi couldn't do anything, then something _must_ be different. But if Kyuubi is helpless in helping, what the hell were they suppose to do then? How could they beat the power that Kyuubi had?

His eyes snapped from the window to the blond still withering in pain in Sasuke's arms. There was chakra building, but not Kyuubi's as he hoped. It was the blond's own—building tightly in his stomach. Although, it wasn't just his own, there was a darker feel to it. Similar to . . . _'That can't be . . .'_

Sasuke sat rigid as he stared down at Naruto in barely contained anxiety. The building chakra doing nothing to calm him down. It sent no reassurances that this episode was ending. No, it only horrified him at the familiar dark feel swirling in the blond's usual chakra. This odd mixture of the blond's chakra only felt a few days ago. And it wasn't even coming from this Naruto.

Sasuke's breathing came in short erratic breaths, as he tried to wrap his mind around _how_ this could have happened. This one thing that he's been secretly afraid would happen since he first laid eyes on the older Naruto, and the infection that overtook him. He didn't want that to happen to his blond. _Ever_. But that dark tinge to his chakra was the same as it was to the older Naruto's chakra, only smaller. It was the same though. The same that could only mean that somehow his blond got infected.

He moved his eyes slowly to look at the older Sakura. Who held a pale complexion, and her eyes wide with unmistakable fear in their depths. This kind of reaction only proved that his theory—that he wanted to be a terrible idea—wasn't. That Naruto was actually getting infected from unknown sources. "We have to do something." Sasuke said without trying to cover the anxiety that was slowly taking him over.

It a moment before the older Sakura could move her lips. "We n-need to t-take him to Tsu-Tsunade-shishou." She rose to her feet; her legs trembling and barely keeping her standing.

Sasuke repositioned Naruto in his arms, so he could easily pick the thrashing blond up. But abruptly, the building chakra in the blond's stomach was let loose, sending a shock wave outside of Naruto's body. Which in turn, sent Sasuke, the older Sakura, and Raiden soaring back from the blond, and into the first thing that blocked them from going any further. With Raiden and the older Sakura, the wall on both sides of the room stopped their bodies, while Sasuke flew through the door of the closet and collided with the with shelves located in there.

Chidori and the younger Sakura came bursting back into the room. "What happened?!" the younger Sakura asked, while glancing around the room at the fallen bodies. Only for her eyes to stop on her blond teammate seizing on the floor.

The older Sakura pushed herself up with her good arm, and tried to ignore the searing pain throbbing through her other arm as she made her way to the blond. She settled besides him, and took several calming breaths, before she let her hand hover over his chest. Her hand glowing green as she concentrated. She pushed some of her chakra into his body, only to have it immediately rejected. She gasped from the burning that occurred to her hand when her chakra was rejected. There was nothing she could do for him. This was her fault and there was nothing she could do to help him. The helplessness caused more salty tears to fall from her sea-green eyes.

She sniffled loudly, and turned to Chidori, "Chi, go to Tsunade-shishou and tell her that we have a problem and that we'll meet her at the hospital."

Chidori nodded, then turned and ran out of the room.

Sasuke stepped out of the closet when the older Sakura spoke to Chidori. His side taking the worst of the hit, and from the warm wetness soaking in his clothes, he knew he was bleeding. But the caring to even worry about that, was at the farthest corner of his mind. Without flinching, he walked up to his blond, the ache in his chest having nothing to do with the pain in his side when he saw the state that Naruto was in. As he bent down to pick Naruto up in his arms, that's when the older Sakura focused her attention back forward.

"You're hurt." she stated, as she brought her glowing green hand toward him.

He swatted the hand away like he didn't want to be touch by her. And truth be told, he didn't. But that wasn't the whole realize. "It's nothing to worry about." he said, "It's the dobe we need to concentrate on. So, why don't we save some time, and get the dobe to the hospital." Glaring at the end in a silent challenge for her to argue with him.

When she didn't, he picked up his blond in his arms, and stood straight. Holding Naruto tight, so he wouldn't drop him from all the movement the blond couldn't stop from doing. "Raiden—Sakura . . ." he spoke with authority that clearly wasn't going to be spoke against. "Watch the kids." He barely caught the nodding of their heads, as he turned toward the window.

The older Sakura rose to her feet, and made it to the window before Sasuke did. Opening it, so Sasuke could easily get out without trying to open it with an armful of Naruto.

He easily slipped out of the room, and immediately set off toward the hospital with the older Sakura closely following behind.

* * *

Three figures slowed, and soon came to a complete halt on a high tree branch fifty feet above ground. All three eyes focused on the secret entrance to the base located underground. The hundred feet of distance; the only thing keeping them from confirming if there was three little ones that desperately needed to be home where they belonged.

The woman with the Panther mask covering her face, breathed in sharply, and let a smile form on her lips. Her other two teammates, with a Dog and Owl mask, turned to her. Their questioning gazes falling on her with an intense need to be answered.

"This is it." she said in a breathy tone. The excitement coursing through her, causing her to become antsy to do something irrational, and just charge right into the base without a plan of any sort. She has a feeling that some of her husband's mannerism were finally rubbing off on her. She forced herself to calm down, and spoke more calmly. "There's several shinobi ranked, and other civilians located in various parts of the base."

"Any kids?" the one with the Dog mask, also known as Kiba, asked.

"I'm looking."

Shikamaru—Owl mask—ran over different ways to carry out this operation. He took in every aspect that could possibly go wrong, and attempted to rectify those sections to make this into a successful mission. But there was one obstacle that could ruin everything. One that he couldn't completely scratch off the possible list of ruining this mission. Not until Hinata confirmed if _he_ was present or not.

A triumphant chuckle came from Hinata. "Located in one of the lower levels. There's three chakra signatures that are closely related to the other Uchiha children." She breathed a loud sigh. "It's them. I'm almost pos—uh oh. . ." Her stomach fell at the chakra that she was surprised she missed at first.

"What?" both Kiba and Shikamaru asked at the same time.

"Naruto-kun . . ." she said in a tone that was the opposite of what she felt when she was speaking about the triplets. "He's there. A couple of levels up from the children." She squinted her eyes to try and look closer at Naruto's chakra system. His black tainted chakra was flowing through his system at an irregular rate. It was unbalanced. Then, with a jump of her heart, she noticed some of Kyuubi's chakra leaking out from his stomach and attacking the tainted black.

Ever since she heard that Naruto was still alive—that they made a horrible mistake, she's been crying in the privacy of her home. She just couldn't believe that something like this could happen right under their noses. That they made the most biggest mistake that cost not only their Hokage but one of their best friends. And if that wasn't enough to make them feel like the lowest of scum, they find out that he was pregnant with triplets when he was taken. Triplets that have been used as leverage to keep Naruto under reasonable control. . . Her heart ached terribly when she thought of what they've done to their blond friend. What they could have prevented.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Shikamaru drawled out, "This could pose a problem." That one obstacle showing its ugly head, and sticking a barricade right in front of them.

"So what if blondie's there." Kiba countered in his brass way, "I'll be more afraid to go home and face the Uchiha than Naruto right now."

"No one said that we're going anywhere without those kids." Shikamaru said, "I'm just saying that this is going to be more troublesome than before with Naruto being in the same facility where the kids are being kept. They must be really be sure of their control over him if they would risk _even_ the small possibility that Naruto might get enough control to try and escape with them."

"Or . . ." Hinata began, her eyes still focused on Naruto's chakra system. "They wanted the children close enough, yet still far enough away from Naruto-kun, where they could still harm them even if Naruto-kun did try anything."

"Possible . . ."

Kiba growled, "Who cares why they're in the same base. Let's just get the three we came for, and pray that we don't run into Naruto." He glanced back and forth between his two teammates with grin on his face. Though they couldn't exactly see it. "Agreed?"

"Not agreed." Shikamaru protested. "This isn't the time for your 'gung ho' syndrome."

Hinata placed her hand soothingly on her sulking husband's shoulder. Knowing that her husband's need to keep in motion was just his way of dealing with stressful situations. And this situation can easily turn deadly.

"We need a plan . . ." Shikamaru continued, "And _one_ that involves a possible fight with Naruto."

"You're kidding right?" Kiba asked skeptically.

"If you actually think we're going to enter that building without Naruto noticing, then you've obviously forgotten why Naruto was chosen as Hokage."

Kiba jutted his chin to the side. "I haven't forgotten, dipshit. That's why I'm not looking forward to an all out fight with him." He turned his head, so it was facing back to Shikamaru. "I _know_ he can kick my ass when he isn't playing around. And I'm seriously doubting that he's going to be grinning, and not putting his all in it." The sarcasticness in his voice wasn't showing an ounce on his face. Which shows the real seriousness that the situation is to him.

"Fine, Kiba." Shikamaru said as he took out a cigarette from his pocket, and didn't continue until he lit it with his lighter. "If you're too scare to go, then you can stay here."

The other huffed indignantly. "Right. Like I'm going to stay here and let my wife go in there alone with a severely messed up Naruto on the loose." He huffed again, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're crazy."

Hinata sighed, and brought her hand that's been resting on her husband's shoulder back to her lap. She worriedly bit her lower lip. "There's something else." she said softly that the other two could barely hear her. Her byakugan activated eyes, remaining on the irregular chakra system.

"Something else?"

"How the hell can there be something else?"

She waited a moment to collect her thoughts, before she said, "It's Naruto-kun's chakra system. The irregularities in the flow of his chakra is becoming too erratic. With Kyuubi's chakra trying to reject the tainted . . ." She shook her head in a negative reaction. "I can't be sure without physically checking him, but I _think_ it's causing too much stress on his body. It _should_ be, I should say."

"Meaning?" Kiba asked, when she didn't continue.

"Meaning . . ." Shikamaru being the one to answer, "We might have a better chance at this, than I speculated."

* * *

"What in god's name has happened _now_?!" Tsunade burst out once her eyes landed on Sasuke with a still convulsing Naruto in his arms, and the older Sakura walking right by him. She hurriedly approached the young raven, and made an attempt to grab the blond from his arms. But Sasuke kept a firm grip on him, and refused to let him go. She lifted an eyebrow at the boy, "If you want me to help him, brat. You'll let him go."

For that comment, Sasuke glared at her for a half a second, before he relinquished his hold on Naruto. Allowing her to take his blond into her arms, and walked off into another room. He followed right on her heels, and watched her gently place Naruto on a white hospital bed. Sakura passed him, where he stopped near the door, and stood on the other side of the bed than what Tsunade was on. He tried to calm the nausea in his stomach as he kept his eyes glued to everything that the two older females were doing.

"How did this happen?" Tsunade asked Sakura, while she was strapping Naruto down to the bed. Securely restraining him because of his violent convulses.

Sakura averted her eyes away from her shishou, entirely ashamed of what she basically forced the blond to do. "It's my fault." she admitted lowly, "I pressured him into going through the memories from our Naruto to know what happened to him." The composure she acquired through the short trip to the hospital crumbling as her lip quivered a little; tears falling silently from her eyes. "But something happened with his chakra, causing him to become infected—"

"Infected?!" Tsunade shouted, "With the parasite?!"

"I believe so, shishou. It feels the same as the other Naruto's, only weaker in comparison."

Tsunade rolled her sleeve on her right arm up above her elbow, and began to gather chakra in her hand. Which began to glow with a green aura. Sakura noticed what Tsunade was planning on doing, and informed, "I've already tried to internally examine him, but Kyuubi rejected my chakra."

Her hand faltered a second at her protege's words. But decided to try herself, just in case. She let her hand hover over the boy's chest, and she tried to push a little of her chakra into the boy's system. Just as Sakura said, her chakra was rejected, searing the palm of her hand thanks to Kyuubi's chakra forcing hers out. Obviously, Kyuubi didn't want there help. Then—if that was the case—he must know how to deal with the problem. Hopefully. She focused more chakra into her hand—to heal the burn, and ordered Sakura to hand her an syringe.

Sakura hesitated, but then quickly retrieved what she was told to get. She handed the syringe over to Tsunade. Who took it, and took the plastic wrapper off. She turned Naruto's left arm over as she grabbed the antiseptic wipe from a side table, and cleaned the area over the crease of his inner elbow. She threw the wipe in the trash can near the bed, then positioned the syringe at the vein there. After she pushed roughly down on his skin, she pricked his flesh—right into the vein and drew blood out.

Once done, she held the syringe full of blood toward Sakura. "Take this to the lab, and test it for any abnormalities."

"He wasn't infected with any injection." Sakura spoke in confusion, as she took the syringe from the blond woman. It may have been normal procedure to take blood tests, but obviously any normal illnesses this wasn't.

"A precaution." she said, "I want to ensure non have entered his bloodstream." She stared down at the suffering blond with gentle eyes. Wondering why everything has to happen to him. All the pain, and all the misfortunes seemingly purposely aiming in his direction. It wasn't fair in the slightest. She sighed; moving her gaze away from the blond and around the room. Seeing that Sakura has already left, leaving her and the younger raven in the same room. Alone.

She didn't really have a problem with Sasuke. The Sasuke she knowns now, is a lot different than his younger self. Or should she say; when Naruto was around, he was completely different than his younger self. But this _was_ the younger version of Sasuke; the one that she immediately disliked upon meeting. So the grown acceptance she's developed over the years, just seems to immediately dissipate when she looks at the boy. Which brings her to her current predicament—she had to make an attempt to communicate with an emotionally incapable kid.

She let her eyes land on the younger Sasuke, and frowned. He stood like he would always; still and impassive. Without the blood that was soaking through the left side of his clothes and running down his leg, making a small puddle of blood on the floor; she wouldn't know there was anything wrong with him.

"Will he be alright?" he asked monotonously. Any indication that there was something wrong with him was void from his voice.

"That's unknown." she said as she approached the still body. "You on the other hand, might be a different story."

He diverted his eyes away from Naruto and focused them on Tsunade, who was now crouching down in front of him with her eyes staring intently at his side. He glared at her, "I'm fine."

She almost rolled her eyes at the comment that was so Sasuke. "Of course you are, brat. That's why you're bleeding all over my floor."

Sasuke didn't respond as he let the older woman work on his side. He would never admit it, but the blood loss was beginning to make him dizzy. Another few minutes, and it was most likely that he would have passed out. At least now—and without asking—he could save that embarrassment.

When she was done, she stood and walked over to a cabinet. Grabbing something from within and returned back to Sasuke. "Here." she said as she held out her hand and showed the blood pill.

Begrudgingly, he accepted it. Throwing the small capsule into his mouth and swallowing it in one gulp. He then moved around her without another glance, and went over to stand by Naruto's bed. Not worrying that he was tracking blood across the floor with him. Naruto wasn't screaming in agony anymore, though he was still convulsing violently. The bed shaking and the restraints straining against the strength behind them. "Can't you give him anything?"

"No." She walked to the other side of Naruto's bed, and looked upon the blond as gently as Sasuke was. "With Kyuubi being sealed in him, no medicine is effective on him." She lifted her eyes to Sasuke. "And since we can't insert any chakra into him, there's nothing we can do for him. We can only rely on Kyuubi, and pray that he knows how to fix him."

Sasuke's jaw clenched at the prospect of putting so much hope in a demon that he was just getting used to knowing about. A demon that he was raised to believe was evil and held no compassion for humans. It wasn't something he could do so easily like Tsunade. Who had years of getting used to the concept.

But he guessed he had no choice in the matter now.

* * *

Kiba, Hinata, and Shikamaru were crouched down behind a cluster of bushes. Waiting impatiently for the last rays of the sun's light to disappear behind the horizon. Intending to have the darkness of night on their side. Although, if Naruto was the one that decided to pursue them—if they got out of the base, that is—then it really wouldn't do any good. Since he can as easily see in the darkness as he can in the daylight. Really, they were at a disadvantage with Naruto on their side. If only they could guarantee that they wouldn't run into the infected blond . . .

Hinata kept track of the individual chakra systems in the base. Paying extra close attention to Naruto's as he moved through the base. Her brows furrowed when he came across another person, and then that person's chakra system suddenly dimming—almost to the point of non-existent. "Oh my god . . ."

"What?!" her two teammates asked in unison while turning their heads to her.

"He's killing them . . ."

"Who's killing who?" Kiba asked frantically. Praying that it wasn't what his mind automatically came up with.

"Naruto-kun . . ." she said, "He's killing the other occupants in the base."

A second of shocked silence followed after this vital piece of information, before Shikamaru ordered, "Move." He emerged from behind the bushes and sped across the open space to the secret entrance. Fear edging its way up his spine. This was an unforeseen occurrence that was completely unexpected. He can only assume that he overestimated the control they had over Naruto.

"Two more down." Hinata informed as she and Kiba matched Shikamaru's pace with the same urgency. As they crossed the open space, Kiba grabbed Akamaru from inside his chest protector, and fed him a pill. Causing the dog to grow three times his current size. Akamaru ran by his master as they approached the secret entrance.

"Is he anywhere near the kids?" inquired Shikamaru.

"No."

The three entered the base; the alarms blaring almost in a deafening manner. It was worst for Kiba and Akamaru, since their hearing is extra sensitive. But they endure it, mostly forcing the noise to the back of their minds and focusing on the importance of dealing with it. The regular fluorescent lights usually lighting the hallways were off, replaced with the yellowish-orange backup lights and the emergency red lights swirling round and round.

They raced through the many hallways. Purposely taking alternate routes to avoid any encounters with others; especially Naruto. When the three found the staircase, Hinata yelled over the alarms, "They're four levels down!" Without hesitating or bothering to take the steps, they jumped over the railing—one after the other—and free fell down in the middle. Grabbing the appropriate railing once they reached the level they wanted, then swung themselves back onto the stairs. Akamaru—unlike the three shinobi—jumped down by each level in single bounds. Landing on the staircase just as Hinata landed.

Shikamaru glanced over at Hinata, silently asking if anyone was in the hallway behind the door that he was about to open. She shook her head, and went on saying, "No ones down here. They'll all up on the higher levels, trying to deal with Naruto-kun."

He nodded his head, swallowing back the anxiety of having a Naruto—only a few levels up—out of control. One mistake now could cost them the lives of the kids and theirs combined. _'Why does everything have to be so troublesome when it involves the blond?' _He gripped the handle of the door, and opened it with a loud groan from the door itself. Even with nobody around and with the loud alarms, Shikamaru still mentally berated the damn door for making so much noise when they wanted to be discreet.

"Go to the left and I'll guide you the rest of the way." Hinata said as Shikamaru with Kiba and Akamaru right behind him—entered the hallway and immediately turned left when they heard Hinata's instruction.

The two males and canine led the way down the many hallways with Hinata in the rear guiding them in the right direction. They ran for a full minute and a half, before Hinata told them to stop. They now stood in a damp corridor with doors lining both sides of the hall. The flashing red lights gleamed off the small windows embedded into the top of the doors, sending small sparks of sharp light reflecting off the dirty surface.

Shikamaru and Kiba immediately approached a door with the faded numbers of '24 . .' without having to be told by Hinata. They could feel the small chakra signatures coming from behind the door. And Kiba, with his heightened senses, could hear the cries from within. He grabbed the handle of the door, and tried to open it. Only to find that it was locked.

"Did you expect it be unlocked?" Shikamaru asked incredulously.

Kiba growled indignantly at the lazy nin, and tried with brunt strength to break the lock. But the door was made of thick metal that wasn't going to broken by just trying to force it. The only thing it did was bend the handle ever so slightly. Kiba huffed angrily, and kicked the door for embarrassing him. But that was a bad idea as he groaned from the pain that shot up his leg from his big toe that was throbbing from the abuse he just submitted the limb to. He cursed profusely under his breath as he scowled at the metal door.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the usual behavior from the man, and brought out from his back pocket a small black zipper folder. He crouched down on the floor as he unzipped the folder. He then laid it flat open on the floor, and picked out two of his lock picking equipment. Now normally—in this kind of situation—they wouldn't waste time with this—instead they would just break down the door. But since there were kids located behind the door they would just rather break down, they couldn't risk the possibility of injuring them. Especially when they had to return them home and explain to their father _why_ they were injured. That's just one thing you don't do—knowingly put Sasuke's kids in danger. . .

This was the safest route if they intended to keep all of their limbs in tact. And he has every intention to keep _all_ of his body parts.

A click reached his ears when he turned the two instruments located in the hole of the lock. He pulled the instruments out and merely threw them back into the black folder. Not bothering to place them back where they belonged; he was too anxious to lay his eyes on the three Uchiha children that nobody but Sasuke has seen. He zipped the folder back closed as he stood back up straight. Only to pushed to the side abruptly by Hinata.

The latter's own anxiousness to see the children outweighed Shikamaru's by a mile. After she got over her crush on Naruto and began going out with Kiba, the two of them became close. Sakura and herself were Naruto's best girlfriends; his confidants. And when it came to the children, either Sakura or her were the first to be asked to watch them. She grown attached to them like they were part of her own family. Which really they were. The rookie nine (teachers included), Team Gai, and even the Sand siblings considered themselves one large extended family. Welcoming new spouses with open arms, and caring deeply for the children they bared. And now these triplets were part of that family in which they would always be wanted and loved.

She grabbed the metal handle and wrenched the door; the cries from the ones inside louder now that the door was opened. Inside the room, it was dark with the only light coming from the flashing lights in the hallway. Every time the red lights flashed on the opened room, it illuminated the space bright enough where they could see the wooden posts of a crib.

Hinata stepped into the room, focusing her attention on the three small chakra systems in front of her. She was careful of her steps as she approached the crib. And as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she could make out three outlines moving in the crib. Her eyes began to heat up with the appearance of unshed tears, and she held her breath as she reach over the railing and picked up the first child closest to her. The child wiggled relentlessly in her arms and didn't cease in his crying. But she only tightened her hold on him and brought him closer to her.

The tears in her eyes flowed down her covered face and she let the breath she was holding out shakily when she could just make out the boy's face. His chubby cheeks were crutched up with his eyes tightly shut, while his mouth was wide open and particularly screaming at the top of his lungs. His unruly bluish-black strands of hair that fell in his eyes were wet and clung to his face thanks to the boy's tears running out of his eyes.

"Aren't you precious?" Hinata said gently as she ran her hand across the boy's cheek.

"Sorry Hinata." Kiba said while he picked up another child with bluish-black hair that spiked in the back like Sasuke's. "But we don't have time for this." He handed the crying child gently to Shikamaru and then picked up the last one with blond hair. "Once we get them safely back to Konoha, then we can gush over them before Uchiha gets back."

She nodded her agreement with her husband. They needed to get them out of here first, that was the main priority. She followed her other teammates out in the corridor. While doing this, she bounced the child in her arms softly to possibly calm him down. Shikamaru and Kiba did the same with the two boys they carried, but nothing they did stopped them from crying full out.

"Shhhh. . .shhhh. . .shhhh. . ." Shikamaru changed from bouncing the baby to jiggling him back and forth. "You need to be quiet for Uncle Shika." he cooed. Yet nothing changed in the boy's fierce crying. "Or don't be quiet for Uncle Shika." But as he looked down at the boy, something that was hanging around the boy's neck caught his attention.

He maneuvered the infant so he could hold him tightly in one arm, and grabbed what looked like a card hanging around his neck. He brought this card closer to his face, so his eyes could see it in the corridor. And on the card, he made out letters that were hand written. "Uchiha Kota."

"What did you say?" asked Kiba, who was eying the card in Shikamaru's hand.

"Uchiha Kota." he repeated, then looked up at Kiba and Hinata. "Look around their necks."

They did, and Kiba was the first to read off the card that was located there. "Uchiha Kisho." Then Hinata read, "Uchiha Kia."

"What the hell does this mean?" Kiba asked as he looked at the genius of the group for some kind of answer for this. "It's not like it should be normal to wear name tags."

Hinata didn't pay attention to her husband's words, she looked closer to the writing that was so familiar. "This is Naruto-kun's handwriting." she said without any doubt. Because the way he always wrote his surname wasn't anything like anyone has ever written it. It was his way of putting his own style to it.

"What?!" Kiba exclaimed. Whipping his head to her. "Naruto's!"

"She's right." Shikamaru said, bringing his eyes back up to meet with Kiba's. Who's head whipped back in his direction when he agreed with Hinata. "But what I don't understand is—" Shikamaru stopped short when he noticed what the three boys were wearing. They wore long pants, thick jackets, and ski caps. Like they were dressed to travel.

"Shika?" questioned Kiba.

"He knew we were coming." Shikamaru stated lowly, but loud enough where both Kiba and Hinata heard him.

Kiba brows furrowed in confusion at the other's words. "Who kne—" He cut himself off when he finally realized where this was going. "Oh no, I'm not going down that train of thought. He's suppose to be on their side, remember."

"Yet, he's killing them." Hinata said from his side. Her voice telling him that she knew exactly what they meant. But he didn't want to think it—didn't want to get any types of hope that could easily be dashed when they were proven wrong. Nope, he would rather be left with no hope than to have his hopes shattered in the end.

"Can we just get out of here." Kiba demanded rather than asked. "No offense, but I'd rather not test this little theory you two have when it comes to a lunatic blondie." He began to walked down the corridor to the staircase they came down in. Throwing over his shoulder, "The faster and farther away I get Hinata and myself away from him, the better I'll feel."

Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome. . ." and adjusted the infant in his arms before he followed the man to the staircase with Hinata and Akamaru closely behind him. When they entered the staircase, Hinata stopped them. Saying, "We can only go up three levels. Naruto-kun has moved to the fourth."

"How are we suppose to get out then?" Kiba asked, "The exit is on that level."

"There has to be another route to get to the exit without crossing Naruto's path." Shikamaru said. "He's our real problem. If we can get past him and cross our fingers that he doesn't pursue us, then we're be in the clear."

Kiba snorted, "Easier said than done."

In a matter of two seconds, they reached the third level in leaps and were now running down the halls. Turning round several corners and down different corridors, while Hinata watched Naruto's every move. She sucked in a sharp breath and fear spiked within her when Naruto's chakra system began to speed in their direction. "Oh god. . ." she breathed out fearfully. Her arms unconsciously tightening protectively around the child in her arms. "He's moving toward us."

"Shit!" Kiba cursed as they turned down another corridor. Pushing their legs to go faster to avoid an encounter that was becoming inevitable.

"STOP!" screamed Hinata at the two males in front. Her heartbeat beating erratically from the dread that was sinking in the pit of her stomach. Shikamaru and Kiba skidded to a stop, and she continued on with panic underlying her voice, "Another chakra system on the same level is coming toward us from that direction!" Just as she finished, four kunai came soaring from the direction they were heading.

Kiba and Shikamaru jumped back and to the side to avoid the deadly weapons. While Hinata only had to move closer to the wall to avoid them. She gently laid the continuously crying Kia on the floor. Then grabbed Kisho in Kiba's arms when he handed him over and placed him by his brother. She did the same with Kota from Shikamaru, before placing herself with a kunai in hand in front of them in a protective stance. The fear running like acid in her veins continued to worsen as Naruto's chakra system came closer and closer by the second.

The enemy, who threw the kunai, came into view for them to see. Although, he didn't keep their attentions for long, as they all could feel the chakra building from one level up—directly above their heads.

Chakra that was tainted—chakra that had all their skins crawling with fear.

Hinata swirled around, bent down, and shielded the triplets with her body. Kiba and Shikamaru ran over to Hinata and at the last second, they shielded her and the triplets both from the devastating blast that shook the entire floor. The explosion drowning out the noises of the alarms with its deafening catastrophic-ness. Chucks of large debris flew in all directions, hitting the backs of the males brutally. But they kept themselves in place with their arms positioned firmly on the wall in front of them. Keeping close enough to the triplets where they didn't get hit with anything, but keeping enough distance where they didn't squish Hinata and the triplets with their weight.

Coughing came from the three crouching Anbu. The thick cloud of dust filling the entire hall making it hard to breath. Shikamaru lifted his head when he thought the surroundings had settled. Then turned around and looked to where the blast came from. Where once stood the enemy they almost had to face. His features flattened as he lowered his hand to his weapons pouch and extracted a kunai from its confines. He may not be able to see through the cloud of dust, but he could sense the chakra signature coming from underneath the massive hole in the ceiling. This chakra signature not belonging to the enemy who attacked them earlier.

He stood and took a step forward over chucks of concrete. Putting as much distance between him and the kids as he could manage without getting too close to their opponent ahead of him. This was what he was trying to avoid. Praying his damnedest this whole time that it wouldn't have to come down to a fight. Because they would be the only ones losing. And they wouldn't be just losing themselves, but the lives of three innocent kids, who were merely dragged into this war of control. Those three would be the only casualties in the end.

Kiba followed Shikamaru's actions, while Akamaru came from the other side of the small group—debris falling from his fur—and viciously snarled through the thinning dust. Kiba fidgeted ever-so-slightly every other second. His hand gripping his kunai—clenching around the handle and then unclenching from the intensity of his nerves.

All the while, Hinata hastily waved her hands over the space above the triplets. Attempting to keep the dust away from the suddenly quiet children. When Hinata noticed they're non-crying status, her hands froze in mid-air and her brows furrowed in confusion. She would think that the commotion that just occurred wouldn't have quieted them down. It should have made them cry harder, if that was even possible. But no, they were silent. Not only that, they were even trying to crawl to where Kiba and Shikamaru were. In the same direction. . .where their mother currently was. . .

Shakily, she turned her head in the same direction. The dust thin enough, where she could clearly see everything within the corridor. And there, standing only a yard away from them was Naruto. His pitch black eyes with vibrant sapphire lining and streaking out around his irises stared back at them blankly. The dead body of their previous enemy lying at his feet going unnoticed as she unwillingly gasped at her best friend's appearance.

"Naruto-kun. . .?"


	19. Coming Home

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Nineteen

**Coming Home**

The older Sakura walked hastily down the hall that led to the Hokage's office. Quickly bypassing the few other occupants walking within the same narrow hallway; not paying them an ounce of attention, even when they greeted her and/or waved in her direction. No, she only had one thing on her mind, and it quickly overshadowed her sense of being polite.

She quickly came upon the door that led to the office of the Godaime. She clutched the papers within her good arm closer to her chest while she took a breath to calm herself. She wasn't in the best of appearances; with her loose bun in a mess, bags under her eyes, and her clothes wrinkled like she's slept in them. Which was the case. It took hours for the blood tests to come back. Through most of those hours, she waited patiently for them by staring with tear brimmed eyes at the walls in her office. Feeling extremely guilty for what she forced the younger Naruto to do. What caused the blond so much pain. . . But even with her guilt ridden mind, she—at one point—dozed off on her desk. The side of her head resting flatly on top of her desk, and drooling slightly on her paperwork in the process.

She swiped some loose strands of her pink hair behind her ear. Making a futile attempt to look presentable as she used the same hand to try and straighten out her clothes. But after a moment without any visible change, she gave up and knocked on the door. She waited somewhat impatiently; her weight shifting back and forth on her feet while her teeth slightly bit on her lower lip. When a long moment passed without any response, she knocked again. Only this time louder. But once again, there was no response.

Groaning in annoyance, because she had a feeling why her Shishou wasn't answering the consistent knocking. _'Of all times.'_ She grabbed the handle of the door, and opened it. Opening the door wide enough to stick her head in cautiously, just in case any projectiles were going to be aimed at her head. She peeked inside the darkened office, glancing around shortly before letting her eyes settle on the figure slumped behind the desk.

With another sigh, she quietly stepped inside and closed the door behind her. As she made her way over to the desk, she noticed the several empty bottles of sake scattered over its surface. Clearly showing why the Hokage was _unreachable_.

When she was standing right beside the unconscious blond woman, she merely looked down upon her. Seeing the stress in her face, even as she slept. These last two weeks have been nothing but one worry after another. And she vaguely wondered when it was going to stop. She diverted her eyes from her Shishou to the window that showed the night sky outside. Taking in the few dimly lighted stars scattered in the blackness. Desperately praying on those same stars to bring the missing Uchiha children back home safely.

After another moment of staring at the outside in unstoppable sadness, she faced the softly snoring Hokage. Hesitating to hold her hand out to tap the shoulder of the blond's, she let the limb hover in the air—a few inches away from the woman in front of her. She debated if it was worth the possibility in getting struck by an automatic reaction of her flinging arm. But then she dismissed that thought the next second, because she knew she would be in more trouble if she didn't wake her up to hear the news. Possible injury now would be worth it, instead of the definite injury if she waited.

She roughly tapped the blond woman on her shoulder, which caused her to jerk awake with her arm to punch in the direction of Sakura. The person who disturbed her from her drunken sleep. Sakura quickly leaped back from the dangerous strength that she knew was put behind the other's punch, and barely made it out of the way without being touched.

Tsunade blinked groggily, then yawned loudly before she turned toward Sakura with a tired glare. "Sakura. . .just when I finally knock myself out, here you come along. This is becoming a habit of yours."

Sakura smiled sheepishly at her Shishou. "You said you wanted the blood results immediately once they were done."

"Well, why didn't you say that to begin with?!" Tsunade shouted before Sakura could say anything else. Her hand held out that silently demanding for the papers within Sakura's grasp. She handed them over without much thought as her mouth was saying, "The test results came back clean. There's no kind of abnormalities within Naruto's blood."

Tsunade nodded absentmindedly to Sakura's words as her eyes scanned over the papers within her hands. Seeing the words just fine, even though there was no light on in her office. As seconds passed by, a slow smile crept upon Tsunade's features. Happiness making itself know in her being. Something she hasn't felt since they found out that the past Team Seven were the real deal. She threw the pieces of papers onto her desk, and stretched fully—with her arms up and her back arching. "Have you told the younger Uchiha the good news?" she asked in mid-stretch.

"No." came the low reply.

The older woman lowered her arms, and sat properly in her chair; looking at Sakura with knowing chocolate eyes. "Feeling guilty, are we?" Her voice holding a small hint of amusement.

Sakura lifted her head, in which she lowered in shame, and looked at her Shishou with pure honesty. "Of course I am."

"That's good." Tsunade said, "But get over it. This is one thing you can't wallow in. There's much more better things to do than sulk about something that's most likely already been dealt with. He's going to be fine. He's already showing signs of improvement. So, stop beating yourself up over it."

Dejectedly, Sakura ran her hand through her tousled hair with a sigh escaping her mouth. "I can't help it." she said, "This could have been prevented if I didn't push him. I just—"

"Stop." Tsunade interrupted, "Nothing is going to come out of this. And it's not going to help anything." She waved her hand in dismissing manner. "So, I don't want to hear about it anymore." She turned back to her desk while she continued speaking, "You want to sulk over it, then do it on your own time and not let your guilt affect what you need to do."

Sakura knew what she meant by that. If she didn't feel like this, she would have normally visited the younger Naruto by now. But she just couldn't bring herself to; not when she was the cause for him to be in such a condition. Although soon these nerves about seeing him were going to have to be pushed aside. Because as her Shishou said, she had these that needed to be done. And since she was the head nurse at the hospital, it was her responsibility to inform the younger Sasuke about Naruto's condition. She was dreaded that time that was coming quickly.

So, just to stall for some time, she asked, "Have any of the teams contacted back?" Not only will this tactic change the subject, but it will also give her inflated hope something about the triplets.

Upon hearing the question from the pink haired woman, she slumped back in her chair. "Team One(1), Three(2), Five(3), Six(4), and Seven(5) have reported back and found nothing. They are all already heading back as we speak. Although Team Six did see signs that the base they investigated had been recently used."

Her hope was slowly deflating with how many teams have already reported back in with no news of actually having the infants with them. "And Team Two(6) and Four(7)?"

Tsunade shook her head, "They haven't reported back with any news yet."

Sakura's shoulders sagged; only two teams left that had the chance of bringing the three infants home. Her eyes drifted back to the wide open window; looking longingly at the night sky in hopes that it would bring some kind of answers to unspoken questions. There was only a fifty/fifty chance with those last two teams, and those odds weren't sounding too good to her. She was so lost in a daze of watching the sky that it made her jump when her Shishou spoke without looking at her, "Don't you have someplace to be?"

"Huh?" came her unintelligent reply as she turned her head to the older woman.

Tsunade rolled her blood shot eyes down at the papers on her desk. Wondering very vaguely where her mind sometimes runs off to. "The younger Sasuke. . ." she began, "Don't you have some good news for him about Naruto?" Bringing up the subject that the other woman would rather have ignored.

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor in silent surrender to her already spoken duty. She was hoping that her Shishou would just forget in her possible drunken buzz. But she should have known better since in past experiences, that was never the case. When the woman wanted something done, she would never forget. No matter what state of mind she was in.

She sighed, _'God, I'm doing that a lot.'_ then said in a way that sounded like what she was being forced to do something that was terrible, "Fine." She reluctantly moved her feet; taking each step toward the door that would lead her way to an encounter of uncomfortable-ness. When she got to the closed door, she turned back around and opened her mouth. But before she could utter a single syllable, Tsunade shouted, "Go!" While her hand was lifted and pointing to the door she didn't want to walk through.

Grinding her teeth in irritation, she snapped herself back to the door and glared at the wood grains. Mentally wishing she could just punch a hole through the door in a childish retaliation to her Shishou's orders. But she still held her common sense enough to know that would only cause the other to become angered. And that was an unwise thing to do, since her anger could easily kill her intended victim. _'Damn. . .this is a lose-lose situation.' _she thought as she carefully opened the door and stepped out into the hall. Making sure when she closed it that it didn't sounded like she slammed it in any way.

Once closed, she slumped herself soundlessly against the door. Taking in deep soothing breaths before she led her way to the situation ahead.

"Here I go. . ." she whispered to herself as she pushed off the door and began to walk down the now empty hallway.

* * *

The alarms blared in the throughout the dilapidated hallway, blocking the fear induced silence that settled among the three that were stationed in a tense standstill between the three infants and the one person that brought forth their high anxiety. The orange and flashing red lights sent an eerie glow against the man's deathly pale complexion. His dull blond hair falling in limp strands over his piercing sapphire with pitch darkness surrounding the blue. He stood perfectly still; his black bondage type clothes swaying slightly with the small breeze that drifted from the hole above.

"Naruto-kun. . ." Hinata said so low that it wasn't even heard over the alarms.

She openly gaped at the changes of her blond friend; finding him disturbingly frightening as he stood there, staring at them with no emotion present within his obscured colored eyes. Those same eyes that used to hold such warmth and joy; were now cold and almost to the point of being empty. It just appeared that there was hardly any of the Naruto she knew and cared for.

There seemed to be nothing left of him in there. . .

Both Kiba and Shikamaru stood stiffly; neither wanting or willing to make the first move against Naruto. Nor did they quite understand why the blond wasn't attacking them yet. He's had almost a minute to initiate a fight, and he's yet to do so. It was only making the two more wary of the other. Both brunettes wondering what he was planning? He was capable in taking all three of them down if he put his mind to it, which made a question rise within their minds; why wasn't he?

All three's attention was snapped out of their minor stupor when each of them caught the barely audible sound of, "Ma. Ma." There heads whipped down to the baby boy, who somehow managed to crawl his way slightly past Kiba and Shikamaru without anyone knowing it.

Hinata was the first to act. "Kia, no!" Quickly getting to her feet, then leaping forward and snatching the baby in her arms. Though this might have been a mistake on her part, because apparently the mindless action brought her much closer to the infected Naruto than she would have preferred. She took in a sharp breath when she realized of her predicament; slowly raising her head to look up at the blond only four feet from her. She tightened her hold on the squirming child in her arms; her breath not coming to her any easier as she was frozen to the spot.

Without even a couple of moments passing, Kiba grabbed Hinata by her shoulders and pulled her back to the imaginable safety behind them. Which snapped her out of her frightened stupor, quickly remaining her composure and glancing around for the other two infants. Wanting to make sure they weren't as close to their _mother_ as Kia managed to get. She let out a heavy breath when they were still struggling to crawl over larger debris that didn't block the path that Kia chose.

She laid Kia back where he once was. But once she let him go, he began to make his journey toward his mother again. Keeping one eye on the crawling infant, she hurriedly grabbed Kota and Kisho before Kia could get too far. She kept the three back with some effort. Since they continued to struggle against her. Their whimpering with new tears falling down their chubby cheeks hit her heart painfully. Almost convincing her to lease them, and let the three go to the one place they desperately wanted to be. But that would be incredibly stupid of her. Instead she continued what she was doing 'till they began to all out cry like before.

All the while, Naruto's vacant eyes remained on the three infants. Never straying from their bawling selves.

Kiba's and Shikamaru's bodies tensed impossibly further when Naruto took a noticeable step to his right—kicking some debris when his foot moved. Kiba tightened his hold on the kunai in his hand; his knuckles turning white with how tight his grip was. He was particularly sweating bullets with the mere waiting and the wondering on how the whole battle was going to begin. It was just killing him with apprehension. Shikamaru—on the other hand—appeared to be calm, but internally, he was panicking on how they were going to get out of this predicament.

Without speaking a single syllable, Naruto took slow—deliberate steps to his right. The three set of eyes never leaving him as he moved further down the hall.

Farther away from them. . .

When he was some distance away from them, he pulled his eyes away from the three infants and turned his back to them. Forcibly continuing down the hall without looking back.

The three Anbu stood shocked—Kiba with his mouth gaping wide open—as they watched the retreating back of the infected blond. They kept their eyes glued to his black leather clad back until he turned around a corner; a scream following two seconds after he disappeared around it.

Shikamaru was the first to snap out of his shock induced stupor. Not wanting to watch time for Naruto to change his mind in this merciful act, he swirled around on his heels and went to grab a crying infant. "Let's hurry before he changes his mind." This one sentence definitely snapped Kiba back to reality, because he instantly turned and grabbed a baby in his arms. Not wanting to take any chances in Naruto's _strange_ behavior reversing back to what he heard from the older Sasuke.

But Hinata was another story; her breaths were coming to her shallowly, and her mind was running on high. Wondering why Naruto didn't attack them. From what Sasuke told them, she expected the blond to try and kill them on sight. Not just stand there; eying them and then merely walking off.

"Why. . ." she heard her mouth ask without her brain fully functional to known what it was doing. "Why did he—"

"Let's not worry 'bout why right now." Kiba interrupted her hurriedly. "Let's just get out of here while we still have a chance to."

"Unless. . ." began Shikamaru in a drawled tone, "This is some kind of trap."

Kiba turned his head toward the lazy shinobi; giving the brunette a glare. "Why do you always have to ruin a good thing?"

He shrugged, "Just thinking over every aspect."

"Well. . .stop."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes under his mask, shifting the infant boy in his arms. While Kiba waited by Hinata as she regained herself, and picked up the last baby into her arms. Then standing up using her leg muscles, saying once she was fully on her feet, "Let's go." Those two words silently telling her male teammates that she had her emotions under control now. Completely composed and ready to finish their mission.

The two both nodded at her before all three sped toward the direction of the exit. Hinata telling them that Naruto had moved to one of the lower levels, and was currently busy with several individuals who were surrounding the blond and attempting to take him down. That's when, all of a sudden, the whole building shook violently. Causing her to gasp out when she stumbled and almost found herself falling to the floor if it wasn't for Kiba, who gripped her shoulder to keep her steady on her feet. She re-focused on the area where Naruto was, and found that it was completely blinded with tainted chakra.

When the chakra subsided, there was only one chakra system still present. Naruto's. . .

"What the hell was that?!" yelled Kiba over the alarms.

"Naruto-kun. . ."

And that was all that needed to be said for them to be sprint toward the already in sight exit. Without any hesitation what-so-ever, Shikamaru burst through the exist with Kiba and Hinata following suit. Not taking even a glance back, the three sped through the surrounding forest in the direction to their home. Bringing with them the three new youngest members of the Uchiha clan with them.

* * *

Sakura lowered her pace until she stopped by the closed door that led to where the younger Naruto was probably still laying unconscious. She felt the younger Sasuke's chakra signature close by to Naruto's, and she knew that he was also still positioned by the blond's bedside. She lowered her head as her eyes closed in shame. Feeling her quilt intensify while her mind replayed the whole situation for the fiftieths time.

She lifted her hand toward the door with her remaining tilted toward the floor. Sliding the door open, she raised her eyes to peeked inside. Getting the whole view of the room; Sasuke—just as she suspected—was sitting in a chair right beside Naruto's bed. The latter was still unconscious—which didn't help the rising guilt at all.

Pulling the door wider to fit her body, she walked inside and closed the door behind her. Then leaned her shoulder blades against it and just stood there awkwardly. Biting her lower lip nervously, not knowing how she was going to begin.

Even with her entrance, Sasuke didn't remove his eyes from the blond laying motionlessly on the white bed. He blamed her for the condition of his dobe was in. If it wasn't for her, then Naruto wouldn't be lying there like a coma patient. With so many wires and machines connected to him. He heard the faint noises of her shifting on her feet, but still she said nothing. And he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of speaking to her first.

Another whole two minutes passed without either of the two speaking. Until Sakura finally gathered her nerves and said in a low voice, "The blood tests were clean. The parasite must have only infected his chakra. But he's showing signs of improvement. So. . ." she paused shortly, biting more on her lip when she noticed that she wasn't getting any sort of reaction out of the young raven. "I-I think that Kyuubi is handling it. . ." Losing her steam as she trailed off.

Internally, Sasuke was particularly doing a happy dance. Quite relieved that Naruto was getting better and wasn't going to turn into something like the other Naruto. But externally, he remained as stoic as ever. Not revealing how happy he truly was.

More silence followed, this span of time filling the atmosphere with tense thickness. Once again, Sakura was the one who made the first move. She slowly pushed herself away from the door and took hesitate steps toward Naruto's bedside. The side that didn't currently have an Uchiha present. She clenched her hands together in front of her as she gazed down at the peaceful face of the blond's. Her face contorting into a worried expression.

Sasuke watched as Sakura got closer to the unconscious blond. Keeping an eye out for any sudden moves that the paranoid side of his brain thought could occur. His glare intensified and red began to bleed into his eyes when Sakura lifted her hand and was about to touch Naruto. And in a blink of an eye, he was leaning over the blond and gripping her wrist tightly, keeping her away from lowering it further. Just an inch from touching skin—skin that shouldn't be touch by her. Not while he was still furious with her.

Sakura was slightly startled with how quickly the younger Sasuke moved. She almost forgot how fast he was when he was younger. It made her jerk with the abrupt movement, and she tried to pull her wrist out of the other's hold. But he held tightly, which resulted in her looking to him angrily. Although, she smacked herself when she was faced with the ultimate glare of the Uchiha clan. It was almost as fierce as his older self's. But still lacking some to make it completely terrifying.

Her anger softened, knowing that underneath that he was really trying to protect Naruto. Which only caused her to hurt more with guilt. "I'm sorry." she admitted to the young raven. "I didn't mean for it turn out like this."

Sasuke threw her hand out of his grasp like it was something disgusting and sat back down in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He continued to glare as she went on, "I just wanted to know what happened to our Naruto. How we could have messed up like this." Her arm lowered absentmindedly to her side as her eyes did the same; away from the sight in front of her. "I just wanted some answers. . .I didn't want to hurt him." The tears that brimmed her eyes, overflowed and silently fell down her cheeks as she finished.

Sasuke still remained silent, refusing to acknowledge her apology. It didn't mean anything to him; she still hurt him. And this could have been a lot worse if the parasite got into the blond's bloodstream. So many 'could haves' could have happened, and during his duration of staring at Naruto's still form, he's come up with many gruesome endings for the boy. Just the mere thought of anything worse happening sent any form of sympathy for the pink haired kunoichi out the window. He wasn't a very forgiving person to begin with, and her 'stunt' definitely wasn't something he was going to forgive anytime in the near future.

A groan from the body on the bed brought Sasuke out of his thoughts, effectively turning his attention to the stirring blond. Who felt like his body was hit by a huge boulder, and now was lying dead underneath it. He groaned again, losing the ability to think onto why he couldn't open his eyes. They felt like weights were being placed on them. Weighing them down and preventing him from opening them to the outside world. In which, there were two presences by him.

_'Why do I feel like shit?'_ he asked for his inner demon to answer.

But no reply came.

_'Kyuu. . .' _he whined in a childish manner.

Still nothing.

_'Kyuu. . .?'_

Nothing.

_'KYUUUUBI!!!'_ he particularly screamed in his head. He felt an inner joint and knew that he just woke the fox up from his sleep. And this was further confirmed when a threatening growl erupted in his mind.

_**'Dammit. . .brat. . .' **_came the tired reply from the fox. _**'I'm trying to rest. . .'**_

_'You sound as bad as I feel.'_

_**'You would too if you had to deal with an abnormal parasite. Now leave me alone! I need rest.' **_And that was it as Kyuubi went further into his mind and fell back into slumber.

Naruto let it go, knowing that when the fox sounded like that, he really did need to sleep it off. He felt his head fall to the side before a hand rested on his shoulder, and a voice that sounded awfully familiar to Sasuke's, said, "Dobe. . ?" And with the same nickname for him too. He took in a deep breath, the raven's scent filling his lungs and giving him the strength he needed to pry his own eyelids open.

At first, everything was too bright and blurry to make anything out. After a minute and a few blinks later, it finally cleared and showed that the brightness was actually the white of the room. A hospital room.

Another groan escaped from his throat at the thought of being in the hospital again. _'God, I've been coming here too much lately.'_

He let his eyes wander and rest on the one who he was happy to see. It felt like he's been asleep for days, and seeing the set pale features with actual concern in their onyx irises, was something that brought a weak smile on his face. "Hey, teme. . ." he said in a raspy voice.

"How are you feeling?" was Sasuke immediate reply. Wanting to make sure the blond wasn't any worse than before.

"Like shit." Naruto said, "But that was expected. What happened?"

Sasuke looked some what hesitate about telling the details, but then decided to as truthful as possible. It was his body after all, he had a right to know what was going on. "While you were trying to view some of the other Naruto's memories, you somehow got infected with a parasite. It only infected your chakra system and not your bloodstream. Since it came back clean. And since you seem to be getting better, Kyuubi must have been able to get rid of it from your chakra system."

Since his fatigue was preventing him from moving most of his body—his head included—Naruto only nodded his head once. Although it was barely noticeable. He took a big swallow to moisten his throat but it didn't help the dryness at all. He would have asked for some water if his drowsiness was weighing down on him, trying to coax him back into slumber. He attempted to keep them open but the battle was slowly being loss as his eyelids began to droop lower and lower. Bringing the darkness of his subconscious back into play.

Sasuke watched as the battle to stay awake took place, and then the blond's loss as his eyelids lowered. Watching his chest rise and fall in even breaths as he drifted further into slumber. He felt a twinge of disappointment that the other's wakefulness didn't last longer. But it was understandable since bed rest was almost always required to get better faster.

Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to the blond's forehead and gently moved blond bangs out of his face. Viewing the same peacefulness that he's been staring at for hours on end—yet couldn't get enough of. It was amazing how long he could Naruto and never get tired of it. Amazing and yet slightly disturbing.

He withdrew his hand from the other, and ran his fingers through his hair instead. Suddenly feeling self-conscious about these strong emotions he felt for Naruto. He let his arm fall back to his side as he pulled his eyes away from the blond on the bed. Only to find that there was no one else within the room. The older Sakura was no where in sight. He even leaned his whole body over Naruto and peered on the other side of the bed—seeing if she was squatted down and hiding from view. But she wasn't there either.

Sasuke straightened back up with furrowed brows. Speculating if she slipped out while he was busy with Naruto. _'Damn, was I that involved that I didn't even sense her leave.'_ He shook his head at his own mishap. _'Does Naruto really affect me that much?'_ He couldn't bring himself to answer that, because deep down he already knew the answer. But that didn't mean he was ready to acknowledge that weakness just yet.

With an audible sigh, he sat back down into his recent residential chair, and got himself comfortable. Focusing his attention back on the peaceful expression of the other's. His time passer, that even if he was tortured, would never admit in doing. . .

* * *

It was nearing dusk with the sun just peaking over the horizon. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Hinata leaped from tree branch to tree branch with a crying bundle in their arms. A blanket was wrapped around each infant, covering their faces from the chilly morning air as the three zoomed through the forest. They've been at the same pace since they got out of the base hours ago. Non of them even thinking about stopping, just in case there were any pursuers on their tracks. This was the same reason why they haven't had time to even report back to Konoha. They didn't want to risk taking that small break. They wanted to keep moving, because the more distance that was between them and Naruto the better they were feeling. Although, this growing distance didn't slow them down in the slightest.

Within the next five minutes, the three slowed down and jumped to the forest floor. Once there, they slowed even further to a brisk walk as they emerged from the foliage and onto a dirt path. Their breathing came in heavy intakes of breath and their legs ached from hours of heavy overuse, but neither of them complained. They kept their feet moving at a steady pace as they reached the top of an small uphill.

Once they stood on top of the uphill, they could clearly see the tall gates of Konoha in the distance. The sight bringing with it a sense of relief over the three shinobi. Seeing the gates that represented safety and their home. And with that, it also represented a new beginning for the three infants in each of the their arms. . .

* * *

1) Team One-Neji, Ino, and Kanaye

2) Team Three-Anko, Taka, and Chouji

3) Team Five-Sasuke, Fujita, and Kakashi

4) Team Six-Lee, Gai, Tenten, and Yun

5) Team Seven-Masakazu, Kurenai, and Shino

6) Team Two-Kiba, Shikamaru, and Hinata

7) Team Four-Gaara, Temari, Taro, and Hanabi


	20. Reunion

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**NOTE:** I know it took awhile for this chapter to be posted, but it's better late than never. It actually was suppose to be longer but I cut it short because for one, it would have taken longer to post and for two, it was already longer than my normal chapters. So, I hope everyone enjoys it.

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twenty

**Reunion**

Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata quickly moved toward the hospital by rooftops; steadily leaping with the air lashing against their faces. In minutes, the three reached the hospital and entered to the awaiting individuals stationed impatiently by the entrance.

Tsunade was the first to act, immediately stepping forward and getting the first view of the triplets in the threes' arms. The first view of the new additions to the Uchiha family. She felt tears bubble in her eyes at the sight of them. There appearances clearly showed who their parents were, and the resemblance of the blond effectively sent the tears brimming her eyes down her cheeks. The baby looked just like a miniature Naruto(minus the whiskered marks). They were beautiful. Just precious. . .

She hesitantly moved closer to Kiba—since he was the closest to her—and picked Kota up out of the man's arms. She gently brought the crying infant to her large breasts as the ones standing behind her crowded closer to get a better look at the three children.

Sakura, Shizune and Ino were crying openly; while Anko, Neji, Chouji, Taka and Kanaye took in the threes' appearances with shameless sharing, wide joyful smiles and cooing motions. The Teams One and Three returned only twenty and thirty-four minutes before Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata.

Tsunade shushed and swayed the child back and forth in her arms, attempting to calm him. All the while, turning and ushering everyone behind her out of her way and began to walked down the hallway. But all she did didn't stop the excessive crying.

"They haven't stopped crying since we got them." Hinata said after she noticed the older woman's failed attempts. "We've tried everything. They just won't calm down."

"They did become quiet when we ran into blondie." Kiba stated absentmindedly, drawing sharp looks from his wife and Shikamaru. While gasps and audible intakes of breath came from the others trailing closely by and behind them.

Tsunade stopped, pulled her attention from the infant in her arms and faced Kiba; a hard, shocked and partly curious look across her features. The curiosity was only present because the three were here standing with no visible injuries. Naruto was suppose to be dangerous. So, shouldn't there have been a fight? And in most fights there would be some form of injury, no matter how small. But they held non.

"That will be discussed later." she said, then began to walk once more.

"Where's Uchiha?" Shikamaru asked, readjusting the child in his arms. "Is he back?"

"No, not yet. But he has reported in and should be back soon."

The rest of the way to the Children's Ward lacked any business chatter, instead it was replaced with the cooing to the crying infants. Who apparently didn't appreciate the attention one bit. Once they arrived at the Children's Ward, medic nins took the two boys from Shikamaru's and Hinata's arms and began the long process of examining the bawling and wiggling triplets.

Two hours later, with all the difficulty of examining children who seemed to hold a reluctance against doctors and all the older shinobi wishing to gush over the three, the examination was finally over; deeming the three only a little malnourished but otherwise healthy.

The triplets were currently in the nursery with all the previous shinobi minus Tsunade, Shikamaru, Kiba and Hinata; and adding Lee, Gai, Tenten, Kurenai, and Shino. Who arrived back during the middle of the examination and heard about the successful retrieval of the triplets from the gate guards. They also were gushing over the three babies through the glass as much as all the others.

* * *

Tsunade sat down in her chair behind the wooden desk in her office, letting out a sigh of relief pass her lips. The thought of the triplets and the three were safe now and back home where there father would soon be returning sent a warm feeling through her. But she was also nervous about Sasuke's return too. She didn't know exactly why, but his return caused a nervous, butterfly feeling to flutter in her stomach. Maybe it wasn't nervousness but anticipation at witnessing the reunion of father and sons.

She interlaced her fingers underneath her chin, looking at the three shinobi standing in silence before her desk. They stood in perfect Anbu posture with there hands clasped behind there backs.

"Tell me what happened, and how you ran into Naruto and didn't suffer from any injuries."

"Because there was no fight." Informed Shikamaru, relaxing his posture into a more comfortable stance. "He just walked away from us without saying a word."

Tsunade stared in shocked silence, trying to figure out what this could mean. From what the older Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura informed them about there encounter with the infected Naruto, he was gung-ho about fighting with them. Now it just made no sense to why he would let them go without a confrontation. She was brought out of her conflicting thoughts when Hinata began to speak.

"Naruto-kun. . ." she began softly, "It appeared that he was trying to help us."

This only caused Tsunade's eyes to widened further in disbelieve as the woman continued, "His loyalty seems to be faltering, since he killed most of the occupants of the base." Tsunade's breath hitched at this news. "I believe he knew we were coming."

"What?" Tsunade couldn't restrain herself from blurting out. Everything was falling out of place just as she thought it made sense. "How could he possibly have known that you were coming? What even makes you think this to begin with?"

Shikamaru was the one who answered. "The triplets." He stated simply. He waited a moment before he continued on. "You saw the way they were dressed, and we weren't the ones to dress them. Also, the name tags around there necks—stating there names in Naruto's handwriting. He knew we were coming and he knew we were stationed outside the base before he began to kill the others inside. He ensured that we would get the triplets out safely."

By the end of Shikamaru's explanation Tsunade had her face in her hands, breathing deeply in through her nose as she fought against the tears that were ready to fall. As she fought against those tears, she also had to fight against the hope that was building at the smallest possibility that the real Naruto was still in the infected. Obviously, he still was, but she couldn't risk that everything up until now wasn't some sort of scheme concocted up by the parasite that has taken over all of Naruto's functions.

What if he was letting all of this happen? What if the parasite wanted them to believe that Naruto was still in there to cause them to falter in taking care of what needed to be done? To strengthen their weakness that already existed when it came to the blond. Sighing, she lifted her head from her hands and looked at the three with red rimmed eyes.

"When Sasuke comes back, I want you to keep this information to yourselves." she said as she laid her arms upon her desk.

"What?!" exclaimed Kiba in a growl. "He has a right to know. He's his. . .w-wife." He never liked calling Naruto that. To him, it was always strange and uncomfortable to call his blond friend something that has always been a label for women. "This proves that Naruto's still in there. That there might be a chance to—"

"That's exactly why I don't want Sasuke to know." She cut him off.

Okay, this had Kiba confused. What the hell was she talking about? That's the reason? That should be the reason he should be told, not the reason not to be told.

"The more he thinks that Naruto can still be saved, the more reluctant he'll be about doing what has to be done." She kept her voice even throughout the whole sentence, which surprised her greatly. Since all she wanted to do was curl up and cry at what she just said.

"Why don't you just come out and say it!" Snapped Kiba. "The more he thinks that Naruto is still in there, the more likely it is he won't _kill _him!"

She flinched at his bluntness but kept her mask of seriousness on, hiding behind it to keep herself able to speak the words that needed to be said for the sake of the village. A bitter chuckle almost escaped her mouth when she thought it that way. Konoha. . .The safety of the village always has to be thought of first before anything else. Even before the ones you love. . .

That was the problem with Sasuke. The village meant nothing to him, and she knew this. All that matter to him was his family; Naruto and his children. They were his top priority, and it's always been like this. Konoha could kiss his ass if it meant picking between the village and any member of his family. Naruto, even being the Hokage, was the same. Though he hid it a lot better than Sasuke does. But she knew that Naruto would give up everything for his family. And as things were laying out, that's exactly what he did.

"Yes." She admitted shamefully. "That's exactly why. Sasuke is the only one who is on even ground with Naruto. It would take several of our best to take Naruto down otherwise. And even are best will be reluctant to harm him. I just can't have him believing in that Naruto can be saved when there is a large chance he can't be." She was forcing herself to believe the same thing, desperately praying she wasn't making a terrible decision by practically forcing Sasuke to fight the person he loves most.

"The safety of the village comes first." she heard herself say absentmindedly through her own guilt.

"Hokage-sama." Shikamaru drawled out. "If you don't mind me saying, you are fooling yourself if you think that Uchiha will actually kill Naruto. No matter if he knows there's some part of Naruto still alive, he still wouldn't—no couldn't bring himself to kill his own wife. So, you might as well get your best prepped, because I already know Uchiha won't kill him."

Tsunade knew this was the case. She knew that the love Sasuke held for Naruto was fierce. God, she was fooling herself on more than just this matter. She didn't know what she was doing. She knew what it would do to Sasuke if he actually managed to take the life of Naruto. It was something that would ultimately destroy him. And what was worse, she was willing to let him. And for what, the safety of a village that did nothing for these two in there early years.

She had become what she feared. A Hokage willing to put everything at risk for the sake of their village.

A tear ran down her cheek as her hand lifted and covered her mouth, regretting the day she let Naruto convince her to take this job. To make such life alternating decisions that can destroy more than just one life.

The door to her office burst open, revealing a disheveled Shizune. Who looked like she just ran a mile to get to where she was. "Tsunade-sama." She got out between gasps of breath. "Uchiha Sasuke and his team have returned."

Tsunade sat rooted in her chair for a long moment before she moved; standing and walking around her desk. "Not a word." She ordered the three as she passed and headed to the door.

Kiba shook his head at his two teammates in disapproval. Hinata lowered hers in sorrow while Shikamaru stared out the window at the morning sky. He didn't like how they planned to deal with Naruto. He could understand the reasoning behind the decision though; he's a threat and a threat of the worst kind. He was once the Rokudaime, and being just that he holds the secrets of Konoha within his mind. Where now inhabits the consciousness of a parasite with full rein in exploring the blond's memories.

If he didn't personally know Naruto and care what happens to the man, he would fully be behind the decision of eliminating him. But since he was, added with the knowledge that the real Naruto was still in there, he just couldn't agree with the snap decision to get rid of the threat.

He wished they could just figure out how to extract the parasite from the blond's body. If only they had the time. . .

* * *

Raiden stood in front of the glass, staring through it into the nursery at the three infants crying in there hard plastic cribs. His four other siblings stood on both sides of him, the younger ones standing on there tippy toes to see into the room. Sakura and Ino stood to his right while Neji, Gaara and Temari stood to his left, all stared through the glass at the triplets with adoration. The younger Sakura, after a long look at the three infants, went to check on the younger Naruto and Sasuke and also to tell them about the babies arrival.

For the past half hour, he's been taking in his brothers' features, finding the uniqueness in each of them and remembering those differences. He wanted to make sure he didn't get there names mixed up. It wouldn't be a problem with Kisho, but with the other two ravens, it might pose some difficulty. Not much but enough where someone might accidentally call one the other's name. And he didn't want to be that someone.

"Why won't they stop crying?" asked Umi beside him, her head tilting up to look at her Aunt Sakura and Aunt Ino. "Aren't they happy that they're home?" A frown marred her innocent features before her face lit up with an idea. "I can give them Popochi if they're scared!"

The older females chuckled at the young blond's cuteness. "No sweetie." answered Sakura as she looked down fondly at Umi. "They're not scared, they probably just want there mommy or daddy."

And at that moment it donned on Raiden to why the triplets kept on crying. He was wondering why they haven't quieted down once since he came to the hospital with his siblings. He felt so stupid right now, it wasn't even funny. "Like the twins." he said it like he just figured it out. Which he did.

Chidori glanced over at her older brother, who looked like he was mentally berating himself. She smiled mockingly as she said, "Took you that long?"

"Oh, shut up." he snapped back.

She continued to smile as Sora asked, "What about us?" Her and Kaze looking back and forth between Raiden and Sakura.

Sakura patted the young girl's head affectionately. "You and your brother were so much trouble when you were just babies. Like your brothers, you two would cry all the time when both your parents weren't around or someone else that wasn't your blood would hold you."

"I remember—" Intercepted Ino with her eyes glazed over in remembrance. "—when Sasuke was on missions that Naruto would have to take you two to work with him. Since he couldn't leave you two with the daycare like Chi. It was kind of funny." She giggled. "With Naruto rolling you two around in a large crib with wheels. It made the intimidation when he was angry a little weak."

"Anyway. . ." Began Sakura again after a few giggles of her own at the memory. "It was when you two were almost three when you did fine with being without either of your parents for any period of time."

"So, they just want daddy?" Umi asked with a questionable tilt of her head, simply dismissing the long explanation.

With a sweet smile, Sakura answered, "Yes, sweetie. They just want there daddy."

She pouted and crossed her arms over her small chest; Popochi being squeezed relentlessly in the process. "Then what's taking daddy so long?"

Just at that moment, Hanabi appeared in cloud of smoke and informed them quickly, "Uchiha-san and his team have returned. They're just approaching the gates now." This news resulted in the persons around to tense and some to take sharp intakes of breath in anticipation of the reunion.

Only the younger three remained calm. Kaze kept his eyes directed down the hall, patiently waiting for his father to come down it, Sora bounced a little on the balls of her feet, and Umi curtly nodded in a pleased manner with a huge smile covering her face. "See, daddy always knows when we need him."

* * *

Naruto squirmed on the hospital bed, waking up a few hours ago, and turned his head to stare at the other wall while continuing to move every few seconds. He was bored and anxious all mixed up in an energetic blond who needed to get out of these four _white _walls. Maybe this was why he hated white so much; it was all the time he spent in hospitals when he was younger. And lately, he's been seeing the inside of the hospital more than he's been seeing the outside world. Actually, he's been seeing the inside of his own mind because of how much he's been unconscious. He has to admit though, he's been getting a lot of sleep.

"Stop that." came Sasuke's demanding voice from his position in the chair besides Naruto's bed. Naruto glared at the stoic boy who was the main reason why he was still stuck in the present room. If it wasn't for him, he'd already be long gone and down in the Children's Ward where the triplets were at.

He's been wanting to see what these three babies looked like. They were his future children after all, shouldn't he be able to see them. And wouldn't Sasuke want to see them?

Since Sakura came here with the news of the triplets safe return, Sasuke immediately said 'no' when he began to move to go see what they looked like. Though he wouldn't admit it out loud when Sasuke was near, he already had a vague idea what they appearances were from the flashes he continuously received. But he wanted at least a peak to know exactly what they're appearances were. He wasn't sure why he was so desperate to see them in person, though Kyuubi had a theory that it could be the other Naruto's unconscious need to know if they were safe or not.

Why not? It kind of made sense. Nothing could really surprise him anymore. Well, unless Sasuke did something really uncharacteristic like wearing a ballerina outfit. Then he would have all rights to be surprised and completely mortified. But that's not really the point. . .

"Why should I?" Naruto questioned to Sasuke's demand. "You're the one that's basically keeping me trapped here." Sasuke lifted his head from looking at the book within his hand and looked at Naruto with a lifted eyebrow—like what he was doing was far from an accusation. "I want to get out of this damned room."

"You need to rest." Sasuke stated as he closed his book and set it down on the floor by his chair. Since he already knew this could take awhile to settled. These arguments of sort have been occurring every twenty to thirty minutes. This time he's lasted for twenty-three minutes.

"I don't need rest!" shouted Naruto. "I've had enough rest to last for the month. Being unconscious does count as rest, you know!"

The glare he received from Sasuke was enough to shut him up. Those twin onyx depths were blazed with such anger at what he said that it actually caused a small hint of fear to appear. But he didn't let it show, he kept his anger showing on his face without looking away from the other's fueling fire.

"Guys, please." Sakura intercepted through there glaring match. "Like Naruto needs to get into a fight right now. He was just unconscious just hours ago." This seems to calm Sasuke down, since he turned his glare to the wall.

"I wasn't going to start a fight." stated Sasuke through clenched teeth.

Sakura scoffed, "We all know that Naruto would throw himself at you—"

"Hey!"

"—to get a hit on you."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and pouted at the way Sakura talked like he wasn't even there listening to every word.

"Hmn."

Sasuke's bland but usual response which was filled with hostility in that one syllable caused Naruto to burst. "What the hell is wrong with you! All I want is to get out of this damn room!" _'And possibly visit the Children's Ward.'_ He finished silently.

Sasuke huffed, "And how long were you out of the hospital before you had to be put back in it."

Naruto blinked in surprise. Okay, maybe a few things could still surprise him. Mainly anything unusual from Sasuke was a surprise bound to happen. And the raven showing he cared about anything was unusual in of itself. Then for that concern to be directed over his well-being. . .it just wasn't something he would ever get used to.

To have this someone who showed to the world that he didn't give two shits about anything and then to care about what happened to him, even if he was an ass most of the time, it still sent a warmth to spread through him. He cared, that's all that matter. That's all he's ever wanted.

He lowered his head, so now he was staring down at the white bed sheets. "You say it like I want to be in here." He mumbled as his fingers picked at the sheets nervously. "Like I purposely do stupid shit that lands me in here."

"There's no _purposely _about it, you just do it without using that damn head of yours to foresee the possible consequences of your actions."

"It's not like my consequences inflict harm on anyone else but myself."

A groan from Sakura brought his head up to look over at her leaning against the wall and shaking her head like something just happened that she thought was foolish. Which he couldn't understand the reason for this reaction. Not until he looked over at Sasuke and saw his eyes were adorned with his sharingan and his body radiating a killing intent that could match Orochimaru's. And what made it even more frightening was that he was glaring straight at him. That wasn't good.

Upon glancing upon the fury in the blood red, Naruto glanced away immediately. The intensity making him squirm and finding it hard to glare back. He ran over his sentence he spouted just before Sakura groaned and found a small problem with how he said it. It was almost like when he didn't tell Sasuke the complete truth about the other Naruto's memories invading his mind. But this time, he wasn't considering the fact that he was actually hurting someone else with his stunts. He never thought of what Sasuke has went through throughout the events that have occurred with himself. All the uncertainties of his well-being.

But now he was. Now he tried to put himself in Sasuke's shoes with his emotions that he's recently been getting used to. He imagined himself enduring all the events that have transpired so far; to switch Sasuke's and his parts and watching as he would if he was in Sasuke's perspective. To watch a person you care about take part in things that were life threatening with an over average chance of losing there life was almost unbearable. Each situation left so many what-ifs that it could drive a person insane.

Because _what if _he did die?

Before all this, he barely held anything to lose. Yes, he had his friends and Sasuke, who he already cared for more than he should have, but he didn't have to worry about the decisions he made because there was no one intimately close to him. He held no such connection. But now it was different. There was someone on a higher level that cared about him—that endures pain because he was in pain. It was a connection he always wanted, but now that he had it, he didn't know how to adjust to let Sasuke in. He didn't know how to be open—to let someone see who he really was. The mechanism of those barriers would be hard to stop being automatic.

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, blatantly staring into those fiery reds. This time he didn't back down, this time there wasn't any fear from the intensity within those orbs. A part of him wanted to apologize for his unthoughtful words, but the other part that held his pride wouldn't let him. Either way, he wouldn't even know how to begin that sentence anyway.

Thankfully though, commotion from outside the room prevented him from even trying. He removed his eyes from Sasuke and looked over at the closed door that led to the hospital corridor. Yet, even with his vision away from the raven, he could still feel the heated gaze on him. Obviously the commotion held no interest for Sasuke, only the anger that flowed through his veins in which was being mentally inflicted on the blond.

Before Sakura even went over to the door, opened it, stuck her head out and asked one of the medic nins passing by what the problem was, Naruto already knew why everyone was so excited. Because through the walls he clearly heard who had arrived back before the person even stepped within the village. _'Damn, word gets around fast.' _Naruto thought.

When Sakura turned back around, she said the thing that Naruto already knew. "Sasuke-san has returned."

* * *

In the short distance, Sasuke spotted the front gates of Konoha. He pushed harder off the next tree branch, then harder on the next as the mere sight of the front gates sent a new spurt of energy coursing through him. This energy of anticipation possessed him to move faster to get to the knowledge about his children. To know if one of the other teams found them and brought them home. . .back to him.

Kakashi and Fujita followed closely behind Sasuke, both of there bodies were filled with fatigue from the Uchiha's fierce determination to get to his kids. First, it was to get to the base to search the building for the triplets, then when nothing was found but dust and debris, he rushed them back without any breaks like heading to the base to see if any of the other teams had found his children. To say they were tired would be a complete understatement. Not to mention, Kakashi was still injured. For the past two days he's been living on nothing but pain killers. But he kept himself moving, because Sasuke—like Naruto and Sakura—he looks after like they were his children. And these triplets born from his 'sons' were like his grandchildren and he wanted to see them safe as much as their father does.

When Sasuke came close enough to the gates, he jumped out of the trees and landed on the path before the guards who were already standing in the open for there identification. He remembered their faces as Kioki and Taoru from previous teams he's worked with. An expectance was etched in the depths of their eyes with large smiles adorning their lower features; both watching as Sasuke approached. And as Sasuke stood in front of them waiting for them to ask for identification, their smiles only grew.

Sasuke was becoming more irritated with the wasted seconds the two in front of him were causing. He wanted inside the village now and their hesitation was only causing his blood temperature to rise.

"Welcome back, Uchiha-sama." Taoru greeted as he bowed low, causing Sasuke's eye to twitch in annoyance. Yet, when he stood straight again, the obvious danger didn't deter him since his smile never wavered. Sasuke didn't know which one annoyed him more; that the other wasn't frightened of his mood or that he was wasting precious time. _His _precious time if he wanted to see tomorrow.

Kioki bowed next, and when she rose once more, she smiled further and said, "You should head to the hospital, Uchiha-sama. I believe there's three boys anxiously waiting for you."

Sasuke stood frozen to the spot, running each word slowly within his head to comprehend what she just said. Because if she said what he suspected she said, then the three babies he witnessed being born were closer than he ever let himself believe would happen. They were just minutes away from him to being able to hold them. To cradle the children he only recently learned even existed within the world.

Shamefully, he thought this would never come. He hoped yes, but he's learned from the past that hoping never does anything. He's lost so much, and with that he's given up his faith in the impossible happening. And to him, he thought this was an impossible situation. There was so little to go on, and what they had was really unreliable that he _truly _didn't believe he would ever find them. Now though, the impossible was being made possible.

It was showing him that everything wasn't lost just yet.

A nudge to his back brought him out of his stupor. He turned to who done it and found Kakashi with an eye smile directed at him. "What are you waiting for?" He asked. "Go to your children and hold them."

Sasuke was gone half a second later, speeding through the village by the rooftops in a barely visible blur. His mind was fully on getting to his three children he never had the privilege of seeing besides the memory of their birthing. The first sight of each of them was burned into his mind like his other children's births. Where he first laid his eyes upon his children that Naruto and himself created together. The only parts of Naruto he had left. And to him, they were all his little miracles he cherished. . .

Within a minute, he was at the hospital's entrance and wasted no time by slowing down. He entered the hospital at the same speed, veering around individuals as he made his way to the Children's Ward. Thankfully, people occupying the halls must have gotten wind of his presence. Since as he got closer to his destination, people pressed themselves against the walls, giving him easier passage through the halls. He began to slow down when he came to the hall with Sakura, Ino, Neji, Gaara and his children were lined up in front of the glass window to the nursery. And even in his distance he could hear the children's cries coming from inside the brightly lit room.

He slowed further to a brisk walk, his gaze locked on the glass window in which the others were blocking with their bodies. His breathing was becoming ragged and his heartbeat drummed in his chest erratically. God, he wanted to see them, to hold them. They were his children, a part of him and a part of his wife.

"Sasuke." came the voice of the Hokage from behind him. He turned and glanced at her without the usual harsh glint within his eyes.

She stepped up to him; Shikamaru, Kiba and Hinata standing behind her with expressions he didn't even try to decipher at the moment. Tsunade looked upon Sasuke with a gentle smile, "An examination was done on the triplets—" Sasuke held his breath. Was there something wrong with them? Did those bastards do something to them like they did to their mother? "—and otherwise being a little malnourished, they're fine."

Sasuke hung on the Hokage's last two words. _'They're fine.' _he repeatedly said in his mind. He let the breath he was holding out in an audible sigh of relief. With his eyes closed, he let the feeling of weight being lifted from his shoulders calm his vitals down. Though he was suddenly yanked back out from his calming when a child's voice yelled from behind him.

"Daddy!"

All heads snapped to Umi. She was standing with her hands on her hips and was attempting to scowl at her father, but it only resembled an adorable angry pout. "My little brothers—" She swung her arm toward the glass window, almost smacking Kaze in the face if he hadn't had ducked. He silently looked over and up—from his squinted position—like she had gone nuts at such a young age. "—are waiting for you! They want you daddy!" Her bottom lip quivered and her sapphire eyes watered as she began to lose her composure from the triplets crying filtering into the hall. "You shouldn't make them wait."

"Yes, Tou-san." began Chidori, "They're like the twins, all they want are their parents. Their father." She corrected herself quickly. Because they didn't have a mother, not anymore.

Sasuke still hadn't moved any closer. His insecurities that he tried not to think of were making themselves known now. He didn't know if his sons would even want to be around him. They've never even seen him before. In their eyes, he would merely be a stranger. For all he knew, they could have been raised by other people that his sons considered their parents. His sharingan blazed alive from the thought. From other people telling _his _three children that they were their parents when they weren't. It struck his already beaten heart and caused his chest to constrict from the emotions that were being ignited.

Sakura stepped away from the small group and stood by Sasuke. She grabbed his arm, feeling the slight tremble in the limb, and began to coax him forward; toward the door that led within the room—where his children lay in wait. She looked up at Sasuke, noticing the irregular breathing and the way he kept his eyes fixed on the door; anticipation and fear visibly floating within both of his onyx.

Her and Sasuke may not get along most of the time, but she knew why Sasuke was so reluctant in facing his own year old sons, it was rejection he feared they would show toward him. It was the same when he wanted to ask Naruto out and when he asked the blond to marry him. He was so scared of the rejection that he kept putting them off. It took a whole year for him to ask Naruto out on a date but thankfully, only a couple of months when it came to proposing. But Sasuke couldn't even have that couple of months, these were his children and they needed him _now_.

"You can do this, Sasuke-kun." She assured him in a whisper as they neared the entrance to the nursery. "This was the last thing Naruto wanted; for them to be with their father. Don't disappoint Naruto by waiting." Okay, maybe that was a low blow. But if it got Sasuke to see his children today instead of months from now, then so be it.

Sasuke took a deep breath in through his nose when they stood in front of the closed door. Sakura's words giving him a little determination. He didn't want to disappoint his wife in any way. He always wanted Naruto to be proud of him. And even if he wasn't here to see, he wouldn't disappoint him.

Sakura let go of his arm, not planning on going inside. He should be alone with them, even though several people were going to be watching his every move from outside. Sasuke felt her presence leave, yet it didn't fully register in his mind. He took several more deep breaths as he stared at the wooden grain of the door in front of him. He stared for a long moment, the eyes of everyone on his back, before he slowly opened the door and took a hesitant step inside.

Once that step was taken, the triplets laying in their individual cribs stopped crying. It was almost instant, and it only made Sasuke's nerves jump. He took another shaky step, which put him in the room enough where he could close the door behind him. Standing just inside the room with his hand still on the doorknob, he took in each name that was labeled on the cribs. Each name that solidified that they were really there, only a few feet in front of him.

Kia, Kota and Kisho.

Three names in which ringed through his head and heart. A sweet melody that caused his body to unknowingly walk closer to view the children within the cribs. His breath caught in his throat when he laid his eyes upon his three sons. His three beautiful children.

Two sets of onyx and one set of sapphire stared up at him, all red-rimmed from crying. Kota managed to push himself up into a sitting position, Kisho was wiggling on his side, and Kia was still on his back. All the while, each one made incoherent noises and reached their little hands out for him, wanting his attention.

Irregularly, he let out the air in his lungs and inhaled more, stepping even closer to the crib in the middle. He hesitantly raised his trembling hand over the crib and reached out to his son; Kota. Once he was within reaching range for the baby, Kota wrapped his small hand around two of his fingers, causing Sasuke to flinch slightly at the innocent touch. Kota tugged and made a baby noise before he lifted his other arm that wasn't holding Sasuke's fingers in a gesture that told the raven he wanted to be picked up.

Sasuke brought his other hand forward and pressed it against Kota's face, rubbing his thumb gently against his cheek. The baby made more noises of protest of not being held just yet, and Kia and Kisho made just as much noise from the lack of attention they received. Sasuke carefully picked the child up, giggles of joy falling from Kota's mouth at getting his way, and Sasuke held him in his arms.

He stared down at the infant in his arms, his black hair and onyx eyes staring back at him with his head tilted to the side. Confusion and curiosity shown in those twin innocent onyx. Kota brought his hand up and padded at Sasuke's face, drawing his attention to the fact that tears were falling from his eyes. Tears that spoke of the elation of having his child within his arms. To not see the rejection but the acceptance from his actions.

They knew who he was. From the moment he walked into the room, they knew he was their father. He felt lighter than he's had in days. Something good, positive had finally come out of all this. And he couldn't dismiss the rising new hope that everything would turn out okay in the end. . .

Gently, he placed Kota back into his crib—with much protest of wiggling limbs—and picked up Kisho. The blond hair and blue eyes immediately brought a sob up in his throat, which he choked down just as quickly. Upon getting comfortable in Sasuke's arms, Kisho attached his small hand to Sasuke's bangs and tugged.

Sasuke groaned, which sent Kisho in a fit of giggles. He arched a brow at his blond son, the twinkle in his sapphire orbs identical to that of his mother. "You think that's funny, huh?" His voice raspy from his high emotions.

His only answer from his baby was more giggles and more tugs on his hair. Softly, he smiled down at his child, prying his fingers from his bangs so he could put him back into the crib. It took a minute, since he didn't want to hurt his son and his son didn't particularly want to let go, but he got him back into his crib and now was picking up Kia.

Kia stared up at Sasuke with wide eyes, curiously looking at him. His thumb was placed in his mouth and he was partly sucking on the limb. He was more laid back than his other two brothers, more calculating. Kia moved his gaze away from Sasuke and laid his head on Sasuke's chest, his thumb still positioned in his mouth. His eyes closed, giving him a look of contentment as he laid there. Sasuke shifted Kia in his arms, the hand that laid on his chest clenched at the rim of his armor from the prospect of being put down. But he had no intentions of doing so.

He glanced over at the rocking chair positioned near the window, and began to roll Kisho's crib to it. Once Kisho's crib was near the rocking chair, he went back to Kota—who looked dejected with his bottom lip quivering, thinking that Sasuke left him—and patted the boy on the head.

"I didn't forget you." Sasuke spoke softly to his son. _'I could never forget any of you.' _

Kota perked up as Sasuke began to wheel his crib over to the rocking chair also. Once done, Sasuke sat down in the chair while positioning Kia on one side of his lap. He pulled Kisho's crib closer and picked the boy up, placing the giggling and clapping child on the other side of his lap. Then bringing Kota's crib closer to him, he picked him up and placed him on his legs. Sasuke was thankful for rolling cribs, because he didn't know how else he would get his three children on his lap without someone's help.

Kia laid calmly against his chest with his eyes closed and thumb in his mouth. Kota leaned up against him with his head bent back, eyes staring up at him and his legs kicking playfully around. Kisho, on the other hand, was as hyper as his mother; bouncing himself on his leg to the point where he almost toppled over.

Sasuke caught him one handedly, and carefully up righted him. "Just like your mother, reckless." he said as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over his child's cheek, ignoring the sting of pain that vibrated through his chest.

"Ma. . .ma. . ." His blond son said with his head tilted questionably.

Kia opened his eyes and took a look around at his brother's familiar syllables before he lowered his lids and then himself back to Sasuke's chest when he didn't find who was said. Sasuke stared at his son for a long moment, adoration showing in his eyes at hearing one of his triplets speak for the first time. He brushed blond strands from Kisho's forehead and asked a little hesitantly.

"Do you know who I am?" Sasuke asked Kisho. But Kisho barely had time to flex his mouth before his brother Kota snapped his arm up and blatantly pointed his finger at Sasuke. His finger was only a couple of inches from Sasuke's nose, and Sasuke crossed his eyes to look at it, then focused on Kota when he spoke. "Da. . .da."

More tears silently fell from his eyes at those two syllables being spoken from that innocent mouth. Those two syllables that invoked such happiness he hasn't felt in so long. Not only did they unconsciously know who he was, but they visibly knew also. How was that? As far as he knew, he never saw them before. Nor were the triplets ever released from those bastards. Then how could they know what he looked like without ever seeing him? He threw those questions to the back of his mind. They didn't matter right now. All that matter was that his children were here and knew who he was.

He watched as Kisho poked Kota in the cheek and made a noise that sounded like he was mad. Kota swatted at Kisho's hand which only made Kisho poke his brother more. Until Kia drearily opened one eye and kicked Kota without much strength in his brother's arm, since he couldn't reach his other brother. This stopped the other two boys and resulted in them to look over at Kia, who already had his eye closed and was now curling up against Sasuke's chest. Kisho pouted and threw himself against Sasuke's arm that held onto him to make sure he didn't fall, and whined. "Da. .da. ." Wiggling around like a fish.

Sasuke almost chuckled at the threes' antics but it came out more like a choked sob. He tightened his hold on his blond son, already anticipating the problem the three would cause in the future. They're already showing clear signs of troublemakers, and they weren't even two years old yet. Soon, Kisho calmed down and stuck his thumb into his mouth as his eyes began to droop. Kota did the same, lowering his head against Sasuke's leg.

Their breathing even out, signaling they had fallen asleep. They must have been so tired. Being like the twins, they won't sleep unless they're with either of their parents. They won't even let anyone else feed them. He wondered how they survived. Did those bastards let his wife be with them. To ensure they didn't die from starvation or exhaustion. It hurt to think about what those bastards put his children through. What he _knew _they put his wife through.

He felt himself begin to relax at his children's reassuring weight on him and their breathing against his body. These past two weeks have been beyond stressful. First, his children disappear with only his burnt down house to say there was a struggle. Then, he discovers that his wife that was suppose to be dead for the pass two years was in fact still alive in enemy hands and not only that, but also pregnant with triplets. Then he has been worried in finding his children and how he was suppose to get his wife back. He hasn't gotten any sleep except if he was unwillingly unconscious, and it was beginning to take its tole.

His foot pushed softly off the ground, slowly rocking the chair back then forward. The motion relaxed him further, and he found his eyes drooping. The sleepless nights were finally catching up to him. His eyes finally closed completely and he felt the familiar sensation of falling into darkness. Where only nightmares wait for him. . .


	21. Let the Light Shine Through

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its' characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twenty-One

**Let the Light Shine Through**

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura stood at the nursery's window, gazing at the triplets soundly sleeping on their also slumbering father. It definitely was a sight, Sasuke had to admit. Maybe it was worth the two hours of relentless nagging, and the blow to his pride at finally relenting just to shut a certain blond up. Maybe. . .

But as he takes in each of the triplets' appearances, he could see that it was worth it. Just seeing each one carrying characteristics of him and Naruto — like their brothers and sisters — made him feel warmth spread throughout his chest. This was yet another piece of evidence that he'll one day have a family all his own. Although, with everything he's seen so far, he's yet to come to a conclusion if he _should_ feel happy about all this or not. To dread the day when he gains the happiness he longed for only for it to be taken away just as quickly.

"Isn't today the day when Sasuke-san is suppose to meet with the other Naruto?" Sakura asked to Tsunade who was standing on Naruto's left.

That's right, the older Naruto demanded a fight with his older self in three days or else Konoha would be attack in a whole. He almost forgotten with everything that's been going on. That was three days ago. . . today being the third day. And today he'll finally know what kind of a man he's truly become.

"You're really gonna make him fight him?" Sasuke turned to look at Naruto who murmured the question, finding his face lowered and his hands gripping the railing of the window. "You're really gonna make him kill his own wife?"

Tsunade-sama didn't answer. She remained standing forward, rigid with her eyes directed at the sleeping four in the room. Her face was blank but her eyes. . . they held a guilty sadness that didn't just cover the surface, it went deep. Deeper than what he could glimpse at. Then why wouldn't she stop it? Yeah, the older Naruto was a threat to Konoha, but wasn't there another way to deal with him? Another way that wouldn't show how far he'll go, how heartless he'll become for this damned village.

He watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye through the tense and stifling silence that followed. He was acting strange — which really should be common now a days — but he thought the blond was fine now. That he would be okay for at least a little bit. But ever since he saw the triplets with the older Sasuke, he's been quiet. Too quiet for the whining and nagging he's had to endure less than five minutes before that. It could mean that there was something wrong. Something else that will put a strain on his emotions. Something else that. . . could actually cause him to break down. . .

Sakura's tentative voice broke him out of his thoughts when she spoke, "What will happen to Sasuke-san if he does. . ." she trailed off. "If he actually does. . ." she trailed off again, unable to finish. But they all knew what she was trying to ask, 'What will happen to him if he does kill his wife?'.

"It'd destroy him." came a voice from behind them.

All of them except Tsunade-sama turned to see Shikamaru standing there in the middle of the hall, looking ragged. Dark circles shown under his eyes, a five o' clock shadow verging on 8 o'clock darkening his lower face with stubble. He looked worn, exhausted of what's been happening. But the look in his eyes was sharp, unforgiving, and they were directed at the back of Tsunade-sama.

"Everyone's gathered." He said with a bite of resentment. "We can leave once Uchiha's ready."

For a long moment, Tsunade-sama didn't respond. "Alright." It was spoken lowly and full of regret. Then she moved, her movements almost robotic as she entered the room and approached the sleeping family. Sasuke watched as her hand hovered in the air, hesitating in waking them. But in the end, she didn't even have to touch him. When she began to lower her hand closer, the older Sasuke grasped her wrist with lightning speed while his other held a kunai to her throat.

"Can't you stop this?" he heard Naruto ask. He redirected his attention to the blond who was now facing Shikamaru with desperation painted on his face and lacing his voice. "Can't you just leave him out of this?"

Calculating eyes remained on Naruto for a long moment before Shikamaru finally spoke. "You're not speaking for yourself, are you? Your speaking for our Naruto." Eyes narrowed. "Or speaking _as_ our Naruto? Has the connection gone that deep?"

Those words had his stomach tightening and his feet moving forward to get a better look at Naruto's face. He prayed that nothing had changed, that he wouldn't find those sapphires gone. But dread fell thickly in the bottom of his stomach, because there was no trace of sapphire — not even a speck — only violet. His head lowered, his eyes closing as his hand ran through his hair roughly. Was there ever gonna be a break? His emotions have been worked more now than ever, and he was tired. So tired of dreading the next moment. And this scared him, that maybe it will never stop. What if it never stopped?

"You have to know it's cruel." Naruto spoke. "To put us against each other."

Sasuke's head snapped up, staring at the blond like he just betrayed him. No more was he talking about 'them', but now he was including himself like he lived through their lives. Like he wasn't the twelve year old Naruto anymore. He was losing him. Faster than he could stop it, he was losing Naruto. And the funny part was, he was losing him to the older Naruto.

"It has." The pity in Shikamaru's voice making it all the more real. "I doubt you even know which one you are anymore."

"Naruto. . ." Sakura voiced.

Naruto's brows crinkled in confusion, then closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Them." he said, strained. "I meant them. Still. . . argg. . . " His hand moved from his nose to his head. Sasuke was tempted to go to him, but before he could moved, Naruto's hand removed and his head lifted. "Don't make him fight." The same desperation present as before.

Shikamaru sighed tiredly. "It's not my decision."

The door to the nursery opened then, and walked out the older Sasuke and Tsunade with the triplets crying being heard in the nursery. The older Sasuke didn't pause nor remove his gaze from in front of him as he passed them. With a glance, one couldn't tell that he was about to kill his own wife. But this was his own self, the way he hid his emotion — he could tell — hasn't changed. His set jaw was clenched, fists tight, and blocked everything else out. There was no question about it, this was killing him. Because only things that mattered he tries to hide from.

"Sasuke and Naruto, you two are going to be required to stay with the triplets. Since you two are technically their parents, they'll only eat and sleep for you." Tsunade-sama said as she followed the older Sasuke without pausing in her stride, without meeting any of their gazes.

Before Tsunade-sama passed Naruto completely, he heard him say, "You're making a mistake."

And her response. . .

"I know."

* * *

The older Sasuke walked down the corridors of the hospital, his mind on autopilot. He knew what he was walking into, knew where his feet were taking him, and. . . he could barely keep himself standing. He wanted to fall, just fall down and never get up. But his training was ingrained in him, he was a shinobi. There were two other roles though, two others that rose higher than his status as a shinobi.

Being a father and being a husband.

Those were his duties above all others. His family came before anything. That's why he couldn't fall, couldn't give up. He had to protect what was his no matter what it took. Even if it meant going against his very village.

Exiting the hospital, he headed to the front gates. Shikamaru and Tsunade trailed behind him, keeping their distance from him. It was a good thing. Having that kunai to the Hokage's throat was still vivid in his mind. The impulse to press instead of standing down was almost too strong to resist. It was because of her that an issue to kill his wife was put out. If he didn't succeed, that order gave anyone present the authority to take his dobe's life. That damned order that had the right to take his dobe away from him. And she thought she had that right.

_No one_ had that right.

Sooner than he would have liked, he arrived at the front gates, and wished he hadn't. Standing before him were at least fifty shinobi, all high ranking and ranging from Konoha to Suna. And that number didn't even include the dogs and cougars that Kiba and a clan head from Suna had. He took in everyone, the most powerful from both villages, of each clan and even most clan heads were present. And most, if not all, were friends of Naruto. But that didn't erase the knowledge that each one of them were all willing to take Naruto's life away. All for the sake of Konoha. . . Well, fuck them, Konoha can go to hell. They all can go to hell, because from this day forth, he'll _never_ trust one of them again.

Not one looked at him as he approached. Not one lifted their gaze to look at the man who'll kill them if they so much as touch his wife.

"You all know why you're here." Tsunade's voice came from beside him. It was only then did the others look up while he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She wore a blank expression and spoke in a flat tone. He glared, the violent urge to harm her still present as she continued speaking, "And you all know what's been asked of you. I know this won't be easy, he was all your friend and comrade, but. . . he would want his village protected at all cost, even against. . ." She trailed off for a long moment, then continued with little conviction, "Your dismissed. Go." She turned, her eyes distance as she headed back into the village.

At her words, the atmosphere darkened even more than a moment before. It was like they were hoping she would call it off, to dismiss the order that would let them off of committing the ultimate betrayal. If only most knew, she wasn't who they needed to worry about. But Sasuke could see, the ones who really knew him — who knew what his family meant to him — were the ones who were the most cautious of him as he passed through the crowd.

He stopped, seeing his son Raiden standing just before the opened gates. His head was lowered, fidgeting and unwilling to meet his gaze. "Go back home son." he said in a cold tone that he didn't mean to speak with. Not to his son.

"I'm coming along." he heard him say.

"No your not." The coldness still present. "I want you with your siblings."

"Chi's with them." Raiden lifted his head then, staring him straight on. And god, he could see so much of Naruto in him that he just wanted to recoil from his own son. "And I don't care what you say Tou-san, I'm coming with no matter what."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in warning. But really, he felt no anger. He didn't want Raiden to come simply because he didn't want him to see him willingly fight his mother. Ever since he came back to Konoha, him and Naruto have never fought to kill each other. They sparred, they helped to improve the other, but never have they ever tried to strike to kill the other ever again. It was their unspoken rule. It was their way of showing each other that it wasn't going to happen again.

They were wrong though. So wrong. . .

How could he let his son watch a reenactment of their fight from twenty years ago? How could he let him see them at their worst?

But as he stared down at him, he couldn't find it in him to say no. It was the amount of desperation in eyes so much like his own that had him unable to deny him. So emotional. . . and so much like Naruto's. He nodded his head in a stiff motion before he walked passed him, saying as he did so, "Keep up."

And before he allowed the true impact of his situation to sink in, he forced his feet to move and sped forward at full speed. The others' chakras were close behind him as the trees passed him in a blur. He wasn't just running to get to a location he was dreading, he was running away from what this was truly doing to him. Just running away from the break down that was lingering right there on the edge of his sanity.

* * *

The clicks of Tsunade's shoes rang in her ears as she walked back down the corridor of the hospital. It all was becoming too much. The choices she had to make. The life or death consequences she was willing to make for the sake of Konoha. It was sickening. She really couldn't recognize herself anymore. How could she? This reality has become her nightmare. There was no going back.

The deal was sealed once she allowed Sasuke to leave Konoha with the clear order to kill his own wife. It was incomprehensible how she would even allow it. She had all the reasons repeating over and over in her head, but the only problem was that she couldn't make her heart and mind agree. That had an easy answer though: It was unforgivable.

She stopped, still, and gazed through the nursery window at the triplets and the young Team Seven. It's been difficult, all this time, to look at them, knowing what their futures hold. Knowing that the path of Naruto and Sasuke were going to be the toughest. Damn near always a fight to be together. The happiness they did manage to get was always short lived, always taken from them so quick. She wondered if that was fair? After all they've been through, didn't they deserve to be happy? Didn't they deserve each other?

* * *

The baby boy, Kia, in his arms stared up at him with onyx eyes so close to Sasuke's. Naruto stared right back, his concentration lacking since the images in his head were converging with his own memories and making it hard for him to determine what was his and what wasn't. He couldn't even hear Kyuubi anymore with all the commotion in his head. There was only a constant clashing of memories and emotions that didn't particularly want to get along. It was a battle. It was only a matter of time before it all came crashing down. It was then that he feared. Because then who will he be?

He heard the sound of his name, but it didn't completely register. He continued to stare at the infant until someone grabbed his shoulder, instinctively causing him to look up. It was the same eyes as Kia in his line of vision, and it took him a second to connect them to a name. . . Sasuke. A flood of images came with those three syllables. Images of them fighting, of Sasuke trying to kill him for power. Valley of the End, the same place where his older self wanted to fight Sasuke. The betrayal and the desperation to save him became so fresh in his mind that tears flooded his eyes. Why would he do that? He was so confused that he couldn't find the place in the time-line where that occurred. Was this something that was going to happen or did it already happen?

"Naruto!" His name was called again, but this time with a shake of his shoulders.

He snapped out of the images playing like a movie in front of his eyes, only to realize that Sasuke was much closer and that Kia was gone from his arms. There was worry swimming in the sea of darkness in Sasuke's eyes, it was so intense that a moment of clarity occurred, allowing him to focus on only him. "What?" he said calmly. The worry in those eyes didn't lesson, it seemed to grow with his response.

"What's happening, Dobe?" Sasuke asked, his gaze not once leaving his. It was almost like a soothing balm being spread over him, calming the pressure in his head and stopping the images momentarily.

"What do you mean?" He was still a little confused, so he wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about. But really, he only had to guess and with the latest of what's been happening, he'll probably get it right. Sasuke knew everything else. Well, he thinks he does.

Anger flared, reddening the irises of those onyx. "What the hell do you think I'm talking about?" His hands tightening on his arms. "What's happening to _you_? Tell me what's going on?"

Sakura moved, finally noticing her presence in the room, she stood from her position on the floor. Her hands clasped over her chest, she remained where she stood, not moving forward to stop Sasuke. If it wasn't for the situation, he might have found her fear for the raven amusing. But he could barely spare the slight notice of her, let alone some humor at her expense.

He continued to stare at Sasuke for a long moment before answering, "I'm losing." And he wasn't sure if he was talking about himself or the other Naruto. It was too mixed up to tell now. "And you can't save me. No one can." That brought on a whole series of emotions flashing across Sasuke's face. Worry, dread, fear, and then a fierce determination. They came and went so fast that he thought maybe he might have seen wrong. But he knew — knew they were present just underneath the facade Sasuke keeps on the surface.

Sasuke leaned in close, eyes never leaving his. "I'm gonna save you. No matter what." It sounded so determined, it made him wonder who he was trying to convince.

Naruto shook his head. "You're wrong. . . There's no saving me."

* * *

The older Sasuke broke through the line of trees, following the eight shinobi before him, and paused. From where he stood, he could easily see the ruined monuments in the distance. The only witnesses to the battle that took place there twenty years ago. Seeing his ugly betrayal and his utter loss of sanity that almost cost Naruto his life. It was pure agony, the memories that were resurfacing with just the sight of them, and the knowledge that it was only repeating itself. Those past mistakes, he could see them, and how it all led up to this. And he had to wonder. . . if this wasn't what he deserved.

"Is there a problem, Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice was knowing, breaking through his trance of staring at the two monuments. Yet, the images in his head didn't cease. The self-loathing didn't cease. And he had a feeling neither ever would.

He felt the eyes of his son's on him as well while he waited a moment too long to answer. "No." He moved forward, his eyes never leaving the area they were fast approaching. Too fast. The time was coming too fast. The moment when he'll have to cross that one line — the one line he swore he would never step foot on again: Fighting Naruto without any hold backs. And he didn't think he was capable of doing that anymore. Not because he couldn't hold his own against him, it could never be that simple, it was because Naruto had somehow become the only constant thing in his life. Ever since they were kids, he could remember him always being around. . . always there.

Even when he betrayed him, when he clearly displayed that the blond meant nothing to him, when he was willing to kill him, he never gave up on him. Never stopped chasing after him, never stopped putting his two cents in when he didn't want it. He was the one who deserved what was happening to his dobe. He deserved everything, not Naruto — the best thing that ever happened to him. Even if it took him a while to realize what he had. He was his light in the depth of his darkness.

So, how was he expected to extinguish that light he's always been drawn to?

The answer was, he couldn't. . . He just couldn't. And he'll be damned if he allowed anyone else to either.

He arrived at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the lake below, the other shinobi fanning out as he took in the damage that was still prominent even after all those years. Each crater, each crack, even the smallest of blemishes he knew by heart. That fight replayed itself in his mind so many times there was nothing he's forgotten about that day. Nothing. Not even the pain that was clearly painted on the blond's face.

Whistling snapped his attention to across the cavern, that one sound simultaneously resulting in every shinobi to tense while some grabbed their weapons by the scraping of metal. Standing on a boulder across the cavern was Naruto, a smirk plastered on his face that was so unusual for him. His stomach clenched unbearably at the sight of him, because it was time. There was no delaying, his worst nightmare was coming true and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't make this go away, because that would mean ignoring what's happened to his wife. And that wasn't even an option of denying.

"You brought an audience." Naruto spoke, his voice echoing across the cavern. "How wonderful. They better not interfere though."

He didn't speak, just stared at the face that not just days ago revealed his dobe. Those black depths that showed the sapphire he loved so much. That one moment held such hope. And he grabbed onto that, pulling and twisting it into a determination that had him moving. He couldn't lose him again. He didn't know if he'll survive it.

In leaps, he jumped down to the lake below, infusing his feet with chakra to stay above the water. _Too familiar_, his mind equipped as he watched Naruto do the same. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the other shinobi evenly circle around the cavern, surrounding them.

"Ironic, isn't it." Naruto spoke again, his hands working the buckles of his jacket. Undoing them, then throwing it to the side. "That you and my host would be right back here, fighting each other. But the roles have changed, haven't they? This time I'm the one that's gonna kill you to test this body's abilities. Won't that be fun?" A manic smile formed while he shifted his body into a fighting position. One that was all Naruto's. One that was painful to see.

He closed his eyes from the familiarity that stood a mere yard in front of him. _Breath_, he thought. _Just keep breathing._ He couldn't allow this to get to him, not now. It was too late to break down — too late to hide from the situation. It was happening. There was no more 'what ifs', no running, that was over. Now it was time to face the consequences of his ignorance — in his lack of ability in protecting his family.

His eyes remained closed, his body lax, even as he felt Naruto race forward. His body was still used to the blond's presence that it didn't even register that he was suppose to be a threat now. He didn't move, but instead waited until he was right there, ready to issue the first hit. His eyes snapped open, sharingan activated, and grabbed the punch in mid-swing. A leg came up, aiming for his head, and he blocked it with his arm, grabbing the limb. Naruto twisted his body, using the hold he had on him to aim another kick with the other leg. He saw it coming and ducked, releasing his hold on the blond and taking a short step back before having to dodge to his left, then right. It was no surprise to find he was now fighting with an additional three Kage Bunshins.

He dodged, twisted and maneuvered himself around the blows that the three Kage Bunshins and Naruto were delivering. It was easy. It was _too_ easy. Like the parasite was testing the waters. . . testing his defenses before raising the stakes. He should have seen this, should have realized this was what he was doing by only issuing Kage Bunshins and not Kokei Bunshins(1). Well, he wasn't going to play by the blond's rules. He couldn't. Not if he wanted to get him out of here alive. . .

He filled his body with chakra, charged it, then released it outside his body in thick streams of electricity. The Kage Bunshins disappeared while Naruto created a whirlwind underneath his feet, lifting him out of danger. Within a second, Naruto had already ran through a series of hand seals, yelling out, "Kamisori no Kaze!"

Upon seeing the hand seals, Sasuke immediately recognized the jutsu. He moved, using his speed to avoid the razor-sharp lashes of wind, which held kunai within its' currents for extra, deadly potency. Just as a wind slashed before him, he skidded to a stop, then spun, taking a kunai out and deflecting the kunai in Naruto's hand.

"Fight back." he said in a sneer he's never seen nor heard from his blond before. It startled him enough that he didn't notice the fist that collided with his cheek. The hit sent him several yards back, barely missing a wind lash. He flipped his body and skidded to a stop on his feet, wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth. He watched for a long moment as Naruto walked toward him through the dying winds.

"You're not real concerned with all this are you?" It wasn't a question. "Cause you sure aren't taking this seriously. Is it that you think they'll gonna save you?" His hand lifted and pointed at the shinobi above. "They won't. They want me gone. Your life means nothing to them. But I wonder. . . can you kill me? Your _precious_ little wife. Can you take that life away. . . or are they gonna have to do it?" He stopped just a few yards from him, the wind finally dying down.

Not once did Sasuke say anything. There was too much of a fight going on inside him to open his mouth and speak. He thought he could do this. He really did. Protecting him by fighting him — it was as easy as that. Yet, with each block he found it harder to raise his hand to strike Naruto. Because he knew this wasn't some spar between them, this was to the death. And to bring that harm to him, it went against ever instinct screaming to protect him. Which brings him back to the most conflicting part. . . in order to protect him, he _had_ to fight him.

"Well?" Naruto pushed, his smile sadistic. "Could you kill me, _Sasuke_?"

A sharp pain ricocheted through his chest, causing him divert his stare to the water below. He couldn't bare to continue staring at the face that was similar yet so far from his dobe's when his name came from those lips. It was unbearable. And the pain in his chest only got worst when he heard the other chuckle at the sight of his misery.

"They told me my host had a lot of power over you, but damn. . . I didn't know he held this much." Naruto moved closer to him, grabbing him by his throat when he stood in front of him. "You know, it's kind of fun. This amount of control, especially over an Uchiha, it can become addicting. Well, what do you think, _Sasuke_? Do you want me to control you?"

Sasuke was on the verge of just giving up. But out of the corner of his eye, he could see the shinobi there. They stood tense with their hands on their weapons, some with their weapons out, ready to attack and take away what was his. They had orders. They _will_ kill his wife if he didn't pull himself together, if he didn't fight the one he loved most. If he didn't fight. . . he knew that he would kill anyone who even tried to touch his wife. He clenched his jaw as he pushed, shoved the pain and despair to the far corners of his being. He stared back into those black eyes, seeing nothing of Naruto in those depths.

"You're wrong." He grabbed the wrist that was holding his neck, tightening his grip until those fingers loosened. His other hand lowered to the water below, sinking below the surface as he loaded his hand with charged chakra. That chakra flooded outward, flowing out and crackling over the water with electricity. It ensured that Kiba couldn't hear a damn thing. "You're not the one with the power. Naruto does." He wrenched the hand from his throat, and pulled Naruto close to him. "And if he can hear me. . . Run." It was then that his mind turned off, shoving Naruto far from him and slashing his sword at him. It was time to make it real.

No more was he seeing his wife in front of him. Now was the time to become the heartless Anbu Captain that he was known for. It was the only way he was going to keep his wife safe. Only for the moment. . . but right now, he only needed that moment.

* * *

Raiden flinched when his mother slammed into the rock wall across the cavern, creating a crater big enough to fit a two story building in it. His father was on the other side of the cavern, calmly walking toward where the dust still hasn't settled. He was different, Raiden could tell. Before he was merely avoiding the blows his mother was giving him and never delivering his own, but now, he was striking just as deadly blows as his mother was. It made him wonder why he wanted to witness this. The strange fascination he thought he would feel at seeing them fight each other without holding back was completely replaced with the terror that they were really trying to kill each other. It made him want to run from here and pretend it wasn't happening. Then why was his feet not moving?

He took a step back from the edge and shielded his eyes when his mother produced a futon jutsu that sliced through the whole cavern, raising water and colliding with the stone walls. He skidded back a few more feet from the mere force of the wind that deafened his ears. Someone yanked him back hard right before immense heat exploded all around him. It took him a couple of seconds to get his head together enough to open his eyes and find that Kakashi was on top of him. On normal circumstances it would have weirded him out, but right then he wasn't thinking anywhere near those thoughts. He shoved at his chest, wanting him to get off so he could see what the hell just happened.

When Kakashi moved, and he got back on his feet, that first thing he noticed was that most of the other shinobi had moved far back from the edge of the cavern. There were scorched marks all along the edge as he rushed to it and looked down. His mother and father still fought below neck to neck like fire didn't just fill the cavern with its' blazing flames.

"He could've killed them both." he said, knowing that those flames came from his father. And with them being powered upped ten fold by the raging winds. . . it would have been suicidal if it was any other shinobi. He turned and looked at Kakashi when he came up by his side. "He's really trying to kill Kaa-san, isn't he?" he asked, dreading the answer that was already playing itself out below.

"No. . . he's not." Kakashi said, his visible eye not straying from the fight. "He never could."

Raiden froze, it sounded like his father tried to kill his mother before. Just like what the parasite said before the fight even began. . . _This time I'm the one that's gonna kill you to test this body's abilities. _Was it that this wasn't the first time his father had tried to kill his mother? Was it that this happened before? He turned back to the brutal fight, only to flinch away in fear when he saw his parents were charging each other with deadly jutsus.

Jutsus that they were both known for. . .

* * *

_STOOOPP!_ The words screamed in Naruto's head, causing the headache that was already formed to throb even harder. He kept the groan from spilling from his mouth, and instead, gripped his pant leg to keep the pain to himself. He could see it, the fight that was taking place at the Valley of Death. Everything that was seen from the older Naruto's eyes, he could see it being replayed with his own eyes. It was disturbing and terrifying how it all was being played out, how the older Sasuke was almost putting his all in the fight. It was close enough to be even between them. That was the problem. One mistake and either one of them could end up killing the other. That's why his heart was constricting and his stomach was churning because that one mistake could destroy everything.

In one movement, he stood without really seeing the rest of the room. The events still playing, obscuring his vision and sense of self. He gathered chakra with only one thought in mind, _It has to stop_. Distantly, he felt a breeze against his skin as he felt his chakra expand outside his body and began to manipulate the molecules around him. He had no idea what was going on, all he knew was that it was right and would take him where he needed to go.

His arm was grabbed, pulling his daze from within to the one who touched him. Slowly, his head lifted to onyx looking down at him with what he could barely recognize as panic. Sasuke was saying something, but his mind wasn't present much anymore. It was too focused on the fight that was taking a bad turn. They're signature jutsus now were making an appearance. And it caused him to cringe at the scene. A scene that was playing the same as it did almost two decades ago. It all was familiar to him now. That's why it had to stop, because if the older Sasuke took his wife's life, he now knew that there wouldn't be anything left of him.

On its' own, his body leaned forward and vaguely felt his mouth move. "Forgive me." The words echoed in his mind as the wind picked up rapidly around him. A part of him thought that Sasuke would back up, but instead, he jerked him against his chest and held on tight.

Big mistake.

Because the next thing that occurred was that the surroundings changed until they were in the middle of the Valley of Death, right in between the older Sasuke and Naruto and their powerful jutsus. He didn't waste any time to grab Sasuke's collar and throw him to the side, out of danger. Next, he raised wind to throw off the older Sasuke while he twisted around, barely missing the full-powered Rasengan, and grabbed the wrist so he couldn't move away. Shocked registered across the older Naruto's features — either from his sudden appearance or the hold he had on him. Either way, he pulled him closer until they were face to face and gave him the most sinister smile.

"It's time to say goodbye."

He jerked his free hand back, Kyuubi's chakra filling and overflowing in his hand and fingers, then jabbed him in the stomach — right where the seal for Kyuubi was located. Fire red chakra exploded like a bomb. The past and future chakra of Kyuubi mixing and reacting in such a way that the shock-wave of the power surge caused both Narutos to be separated violently.

The younger Sasuke crouched above the water, staring in fear at where his dobe crashed into. It took a second for his mind to catch up to what just happened, then he was by the blond's side in the next. His eyes were closed, but thankfully still breathing. And the bone-chilling fear eased a little, but the trembling wouldn't stop. Not since the moment Naruto pushed him out of danger and remained in it himself.

A presence appeared a few feet to his right, he swirled on his feet — kunai in hand — and pressed the blade to the individual's throat. A female with a Panther mask was crouch motionlessly in front of him, wearing the Konoha hitai-ate and Anbu uniform.

"I'm only here to help Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san." Her voice soft spoken and familiar. "Please remove your kunai."

A prick to the back of his neck had his body stiffening and his mind cursing from not noticing someone seeking up from behind. "Yeah, Sasuke. Put it down." A more aggressive, female voice came from behind him.

The woman in front of him sighed. "Otter, that's unnecessary."

"I know. But it's not like I get the opportunity to get an one up on Uchiha Sasuke everyday. I just couldn't help myself."

The prick at the back of his neck vanished, and he slowly brought his hand back, removing the blade from the Anbu's neck in front of him. Which if he really thought about it, she allowed to happen. The one from behind came into view as she moved closer to Naruto. He tensed, but didn't move to keep her from him because he realized from the blond pony tail who the woman was. Yamanaka Ino. He met her once before, after the older Naruto attack the Uchiha compound.

She kneed down beside Naruto with her hands cupped over his chest. He watched her closely, not trusting her then and not trusting her now, as her hands glowed green. After a second of doing this, she looked past where he crouched. "Panther?" she said. It caused him to remember about the other Anbu member who now stood instead of crouched. He didn't remove his eyes from Naruto and Ino though, not until Ino stopped healing the blond and focused fully on the other Anbu member. "Panther?"

The Panther masked woman stood staring in front of her. He followed her line of vision, which led to the older Naruto who was pulling himself back up to his feet. There was something different about him, he could tell. He couldn't pinpoint how he knew this, but he couldn't pull his eyes away. He watched as the other Naruto stood, looked around in a disoriented way. Like he was confused. It was strange, his whole demeanor change in a span of a few seconds. No longer was there a cocky man there, now he was unsure and hesitant of his movements. Something changed. And it was soon to be decided if it was for the good or not.

"He did it." he heard Panther say. "Kyuubi's been released."

That he understood the meaning behind. It meant that the whole game's been rewritten, and that the real fight's about to be decided.

The older Sasuke stood off to the side, sharingan adorned eyes locked on his wife. He couldn't move. The sudden change in the blond's chakra had him rooted. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra soaring through Naruto's system, giving him unwanted hope that maybe the Fox could just fix him like he always does. That maybe this was all he needed, because he couldn't think of the alternative.

Naruto raised his head, gazing around before he stopped on him. His breath stopped altogether when sapphire was what he saw. The purest blue that held the recognition he's been desperate to see. Yet, the depths of those oceans swam the deepest sadness he's ever seen from them. Sadness and the most honest understanding. Naruto broke away from the eye contact, turning and looking at all the shinobi lining the cavern up above. There was no panic upon seeing the numbers that he must have known was for his own demise. No tensing of muscles in preparation to fight. Nothing. He was as calm as his first arrival there. Like he knew his fate was already set in stone. . .

After another moment, Naruto swirled on his heels and headed away from him, bending down and scooping up his sopping wet jacket when he passed it. It appeared that he was leaving. Sasuke held his breath that the others would just left him go, but he knew better. They had their orders. And it wasn't for Naruto to get out of this cavern alive. No matter what, they weren't gonna let his dobe live.

Sand soared through the air, he caught it out of the corner of his eye and it took all he had to ignore his instincts and stay where he was. But he had to know where everyone stood, he had to know where Naruto stood. He just prayed that Naruto would fight back instead of lay down and die. He dug his nails in the palm of his hands as the sand closed in on his spouse. Each second passed without Naruto taking any effort in protecting himself. It was only at the last second did Naruto finally react. He side-stepped the stream of sand and performed a series of hand seals, creating a wall of water that dissolved the sand momentarily. He turned, doing another series of hand seals that had the water rising rapidly and jetting to where Gaara stood.

That's when all hell broke loose.

* * *

1) **Kokei Bunshin** – A solid bunshin that was used in chapter eleven.


	22. High Waters

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its' characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twenty-Two

**High Waters**

Jutsus flew like torpedoes through the air, kunai and shikuren doing same, with only one destination: Naruto. Even with the sharingan, it was hard in differentiating between each attack. But being in the position he was in, he was determined not to miss one. That one hesitation. . . that's all it would take to not only lose his life but his wife's also.

In a swift movement, he brought his sword up, slicing one of Kiba's dogs' heads off. There was no guilt as the body fell into the water and the blood ran down his blade, he just moved on, taking down a cougar that launched at them. He leaned back, pressing more into the back of Naruto's, silently giving him a signal. And he maneuvered effortlessly, ducking just as he threw a stream of kunai over his head. He wasn't aiming to kill, just incapacitate them. Concentrating chakra into his hand, he extending his arm behind him, letting the chakra spike outward into a lightning blade and stabbing a Suna shinobi in the arm. A second later, thirty water clones of Naruto merged up from the water and began taking on half of their opponents.

Their backs pressed back up against each other like they used to when they were in a predicament like this. When they both were a duo team in the Anbu and only trusted the other to guard their backs. It was so easy to step back into that role. So easy to give his wife that trust again. Because really, Naruto was the only person he ever truly trusted. Naruto was the only person he would ever let decide if he lived or died. That's why he could easily let him guard his back, because it was so deeply ingrained in him that he couldn't just turn it off. How could he. . . he just couldn't forget. And he wouldn't allow anyone to make him either.

He formed hand seals, sucking air into his lungs and infusing the air in his lungs with Katon chakra, and in one long exhale, he blew massive levels of flames from his mouth. Behind him, Naruto manipulated the wind, feeding the fire and increasing its' intensity. Within the cyclone of flames, he grabbed Naruto by the arm and yanked him close where he would be the only one to hear.

"Go. Now." he demanded right next to his ear.

Naruto huffed. "You always called me the idiot, but really you're the idiot, you know that, Sasuke?" There was no jibe in his tone nor any mocking on the profile of his face that he could see from his position. "They'll crucify you for this." he said in a softer tone, full of regret.

"That's something I'll worry about, dobe." Naruto's eyes closed, his face crinkling, while his lip quivered. "There's not much time left, you have to leave now."

Naruto turned around completely, grabbed his face, and pressed his lips to his. Sasuke melted into the touch, eyes closing as he pulled him closer to him. Those warm lips that he hasn't experienced in two years, they were pure ecstasy. It was like tasting a drug in which you've tried to quite from. The longing and most adulterated desire to have that one thing that could ultimately be bad for you. That could ultimately destroy you. . .

It was too short before Naruto pulled back, leaning his forehead against his chin while Sasuke ran his hand through blond strands. "You're a fool." he whispered as wind began to pick up close around him. "But I guess. . . I am also." Then he was gone.

That was five days ago.

Now, Sasuke sat in a jail-cell with his back against the stone wall, legs bent, and always staring forward. Once his wife was gone, he didn't fight. He just stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face that could rival the most arrogant man's as they pointed all sorts of weapons at him. He was the traitor again, but unlike last time, he didn't feel any regret in his actions. On the contrary, he actually found a little amusement in the end result. . . because in the end, he was the one who won.

That's why he couldn't find many problems in where he ended up, because at least he knows that his wife wasn't killed by their hands. At least he wouldn't have to kill every single one of them. He had to admit, that would've been slightly difficult.

Footsteps echoed from down the hall. He knew they were for him, they didn't dare put anyone else on the same level as him. He could only guess that they were afraid of what he'd do. Yet, even knowing this, he didn't move, only continued to stare forward without moving an inch. This was what he did every time he got a visitor — except with his eldest son — which really was only two other people: Shikamaru and Sakura. And he was surprised to see Shikamaru there, who he broke his arm and delivered a few good punches on.

His visitor stepped into his peripheral vision, and for the first time in the five days he's been locked up, Tsunade stood in front of his cell. You would think being in his predicament, he would be the one worse for wear, but Tsunade looked like she hadn't seen a bed in years. Her clothes and hair were ragged with bags dark under her eyes. She looked like crap, which sent a sense of enjoyment through him.

Keys jingled in her hand as she unlocked his cell door. "Get out." Her voice echoed, the door squeaking open.

For the first time in seeing a non-blood visitor, his features changed — his eyebrow lifting in question. Because really, he surely didn't hear her right. Why would she let him go? He betrayed the village by aiding his wife in escaping. There was no way the Council was going to let him slide on that account. Especially when it wasn't his first offense in betrayal. They would have to be a little dense to allow that, since he wasn't the last Uchiha anymore. They really had no reason to keep him around.

"What are you waiting for?" she snapped out. Her voice, for some reason, angry. He could only imagine why. "Get out."

Now he didn't have to be told for a third time. He slowly stood, dusting off his pants just to see if he could piss the blonde even more. But as he stepped closer to the cell's exit, he saw that anger wasn't the emotion on her features nor in her eyes. She lacked hope, she appeared to be distant to the current situation. Or she lacked the will to care. Either way, he wished he could come close to accomplishing such a feat. But his cold exterior never meant he was frozen inside, and that was something he desperately willed would become similar for the past two years. It never happened though. Maybe that's why he was a little envious right then that someone else could accomplish something he never could.

Tsunade stepped aside as he passed, moving without word down the long hall. He followed, keeping a close eye on her, then on the guards on the entrance to the dungeons when they left. He couldn't help but think that maybe they were setting him up to be executed in a 'prisoner tried to escape' sort of way. But as they ascended the steps up to the ground level of the mountain, then descended the steps to the village below, his anxiety of being executed was slowly decreasing. Yet, he didn't relax, nor did he stop eying everyone who passed them as they moved through the village.

The looks he was receiving from the villagers varied. Most were glares that kept him on edge, while there were others who held sympathetic and pitying expressions that he just wanted to punch off. He didn't need their pity. He didn't want it. He stared forward, doing his best to keep his irritation at bay and ignore them. The trip to the hospital was a silent one. A very tense silence that one could cut it with a knife. He wished to know how she got him off this time, but being as stubborn as he was, he kept quiet with his questions. If she didn't feel the need to tell him on her own, then he would have to wonder. But really, it wouldn't keep him up at night.

"Most of your children are with Hinata right now." Tsunade finally spoke as they neared the nursery. From his visits with his son, he learned that Hinata was taking care of his children — minus the triplets — while he was in jail. Since Sakura got released from the hospital herself two days ago, Hinata was basically the only one who would take them in and look after them. He would have to thank her later for that. "And with the events that happened with the younger Naruto and Sasuke, the triplets had to be sedated." That had him stopping in his tracks.

"You what?" he hissed, eyes burning as his sharingan activated.

She didn't even stop nor turn to look at him when she said, "It was unavoidable. They were hysterical and needed the rest." Her tone was flat, like she was explaining some deadly diagnosis to a patient. It was enough for him to reach out and grab her arm tightly, stopping her from proceeding forward, and turning her to face his furious glare.

"You had no right to touch my children." he snapped.

"I do. . . when I think it's what's best for them." she said calmly in that same flat, empty tone she's been using since retrieving him from his cell. "Now if you would let go of me."

That same urge as when Tsunade woke him a week ago ran through him, causing his hand to twitch to take that killing blow. "Careful Tsunade." Disregarding any honorific. His loyalty never being with her. "I might finish my threat." Both knowing exactly what he was talking about. Yet even that didn't change her hollow expression, which only pissed him off even further. He leaned forward, his face mere inches from hers. His sharingan adored eyes bore down into her own as he hissed dangerously, "Don't you _ever_ touch my children again." His hold tightening in warning before letting go and stalking past her toward the nursery.

* * *

At the degree that the younger Naruto had the shower on, his skin was turning red from the hot water. He didn't mind though, it really was the only time he got be by himself. To get away from the looks that both the older versions of Hinata, Kiba and their three kids — Hoji, Akio, and Saia — gave to him. It was like Hinata and Kiba were waiting for him to malfunction while the kids just looked at him like he wasn't suppose to be there. There's times when it gets bad enough where he just seeks solitude. Unfortunately, solitude isn't always what he gets. Not with Sasuke lurking around every corner he turns. If the Hyuuga/Inuzuka family was bad, then Sasuke was the worst of them all.

He turned off the water, stepping out of the shower dripping wet. He didn't grab a towel, instead he moved to the mirror and wiped the fog off the glass. Ever since he was released from the hospital — three days ago — he made a habit of checking mirrors to make sure his eyes were the color they were suppose to be. Since waking up, not once has anyone reported his eyes changing any other color than blue. But he had to check for himself to satisfy his own worries. Plus, something he was thankful for, there were no images invading his mind. If it wasn't for the looks and an overbearing Sasuke constantly being around, the past three days would have been presently nice compared to the previous ones.

At first, it was difficult to adjust with nothing featuring in front of his eyes, but it didn't take long to adjust. Being able to sleep helped. But there was one problem. . . the images may have stopped, but it didn't erase the memories that were still bouncing around in his head. It didn't stop the fear that his path would have more hurtles than what he could take. He grabbed his towel to dry off in a weak attempt to preoccupy himself from that fear. It was no use though. He was in the future where those hurtles made him stumble and fall.

He stopped, wrapped the towel around his waist and stared hard at his reflection. His frown was deep, his brows furrowed in worry. There was no mistaking it. . . he was so screwed.

Shaking his head, he opened the bathroom door and. . . _Speak of the devil_. . . there was Sasuke.

Really, he wasn't surprised to see him leaning against the opposite wall. After several days of this, it was expected.

A tired sigh came out of his mouth as he looked at Sasuke in annoyance. "Are you ever gonna get tired of this, teme?" he asked while walking to the bedroom him, Sasuke, and Raiden have been sharing for the past three days. He felt Sasuke follow him, his gaze lingering on his exposed back by the shiver that ran through him. The act made him realize about how much flesh he was revealing. He'd be completely naked with one good tug to his towel. His cheeks heated at the thought. Because that someone he just picture so perfectly as Sasuke. That's definitely something to imagine when you're practically naked in front of said boy.

Kyuubi chuckled in his head — his voice still a reassuring sound after days of not being able to hear it. _**That is an image worth using for later humiliation.**_

_Later? What? Now's not good?_ he voiced sarcastically.

_**Nah. . . You're doing just fine on your own.**_ Another deep chuckled resounded through his head, resulting in him glaring at his temporary bedroom.

"Why would I?" Sasuke answered. "You're too amusing."

He knew it wasn't the real reason, but it was enough to have him send a glare over his shoulder. In which time, he noticed that Sasuke managed to close the bedroom door without him hearing. _Damn Fox_, he thought. Kyuubi distracted him enough where he got himself trapped in a room alone with Sasuke. His stomach twisted in nervous anticipation, wondering what the other boy would do now. That image flooded his mind again, his face flushing a deeper shade of red when his cock twitched in reaction.

Kyuubi's roar of laughter was ignored as he went to the duffel on the floor and pulled out some clothes. When he stood again, he turned back to Sasuke when he was sure that there was a tent in his towel, and growled out, "Do you mind? I need to get dressed."

A lifted eyebrow was his reply, and his stomach fluttered when a sexy smirk soon followed. He swallowed deeply at the look on that pale face. The predatory gleam shining in those dark depths was enough to make his knees quiver. "So you're just gonna stand there and watch?" his voice came out a little more husky than he'd have liked. He was suppose to be irritated with him, not hoping he would indeed stay and watch.

A loud knock on the door caused both him and Sasuke to jump. "Hey, you two!" Kiba yelled through the door. "Get out here!" Then a low mutter of, "Like they need to be left alone anyway."

Sasuke cursed under his breath and grabbed the door handle, leaving before he had time to argue. He released the breath he was holding, then with the next inhale, irritation heightened again. This time not only at Sasuke, but at Kiba also. He quickly dressed, secretly waiting for Sasuke to come back in. But when he didn't, he grumbled to himself while Kyuubi taunted him as he walked down the stairs to the ground floor. Passing by the living room, he saw that the Uchiha twins, Umi and the youngest Hyuuga/Inuzuka son, Akio, were playing.

When he came to the kitchen, he went through the open door and glanced in to see the oldest Hyuuga/Inuzuka child, Saia and Chidori at the kitchen table doing something he couldn't quite see. Hinata was at the counter, glancing over her shoulder at the two girls in her momentary pause in making what he could guess was sandwiches. She caught sight of him as he was passing by and gave a gentle smile. He grinned and waved, exiting the back door before she informed the other two girls of his presence and drag him into whatever they were doing. It wouldn't have been the first time either.

"There you are teme!" he yelled once he stood on the back porch. Sasuke was sitting on the swing stationed on the porch with his legs and arms crossed. Upon his rather loud announcement of his arrival, Sasuke turned and lifted an eyebrow in question. His face burned, remembering the very same action from just minutes before. _Damn him._ he cursed. Then cursed even further when that wretched smirk displayed itself. Like the raven knew exactly where his mind went to.

"You're always so loud." Sasuke said in a tone that spoke of sinful secrets. "I wonder if that's going be the case in all instances?"

Naruto knew his face flared red at the implication and he glared, which only resulted in that smirk growing.

"Will you two stop?" came the voice of Raiden, who sat on the railing in a similar position as Sasuke. "I might puke if I hear any more innuendos."

When he focused on the oldest of the Uchiha children, there was no jibing present in his features. He wore a deep frown with — what it appeared — his attention fully on Kiba and his oldest son sparring in the backyard. But if one looked closely, one would see those onyx clouded in thought. Thoughts that send spikes of pain flitting across the dark depths. And he knew that he was thinking of his parents — mainly his father.

From the one conversation that Raiden had with him and Sasuke, in which he broke down in a bad way, he was truly terrified that his father wouldn't get out of jail and that him and his siblings would be separated. Yeah, Kiba and Hinata took them in for now, but Raiden couldn't see them taking in eight kids. He couldn't see _anyone_ taking in eight kids. And that's what had his worst fear being flaunted in front of his eyes. That one fear of losing the rest of his family. And with the memories still present in his head, Naruto could understand. Because that was the same fear that always plagued his older self's mind. Losing Sasuke. . . losing any of his children. . . it was enough to keep his other self up at night at times.

Guilt filled him, feeling partly responsible for the older Sasuke being put in jail. He didn't know the full reasons as to why, but the day he woke up in the hospital he knew something terrible had happened to the other Uchiha. And the heavy feeling of being responsible settled in his stomach from that day forth. Like the last thing he received from his other self was that distinct sinking of dread. . .

He glanced over at Sasuke to seek a little help, but he only shook his head. Silently telling him it wasn't the time. That went against the instincts that lingered in the borrowed memories. He forced himself to ignore those instincts though, it wasn't his place to act like the boy's mother. Even with the memories, it didn't mean that they made him his real mother. He turned away from the image of Raiden buried in his own pain, and reluctantly sat down by Sasuke to watch the spar.

Raiden pointedly ignored the two to his right. From the moment Sasuke came out on the porch he wanted nothing more than for him to just go away again. And it only got worse when Naruto made an appearance and the interaction the two shared. It was agonizing to witness. It was the reason why he had to make them shut up. To make them stop acting like his parents. It was the only way he wouldn't shatter in a million pieces and never be put back together. He was losing it. . . losing everything he's ever known. And he didn't know what to do about it. How was he suppose to keep his family together when everything was trying to tear them apart? How was he suppose to survive without them? How could he?

A tear slid down his cheek, but he refused to acknowledge it by wiping it away. It was a cruel reality. They lost their mother only two years ago — presently losing him all over again — and now their probably going to lose their father which will result in losing the very foundation he's grown up in. How was that not cruel?

It was too hard. It was too world shaking to deal with all at once. He tried. He really had. But it all became too much. Too much to hold in — to hide from. Too much to be able to push through. He was done. Losing his father — losing his family, there'd be nothing left then. No hope to hold on to. Nothing to keep him going. He realized, all too late, how much he relied on his family. How much their mere presence kept him together.

It was a severe weakness he was now regretting having. To have a family that could easily be taken away. . . it was a weapon that could just as easily kill you.

The sparring between Hoji and his dad stopped, Kiba stepping close to his son before walking toward where he, Sasuke and Naruto sat. There was a slight grin of a proud father on his features until he saw the younger version of his dad, then his grin fell into a grimace. Raiden watched through critical eyes as Kiba averted all attention away from Sasuke.

"Do you hate my Tou-san, Uncle Kiba?" Raiden asked as Kiba stepped foot on the porch. The man stopped and turned to him. He didn't move though, he continued to watch Hoji practice the moves his dad just taught him. Really, it didn't matter either way. He didn't have it in him to care anymore. He was just curious.

"I don't hate the asshole. . ." he murmured.

"Bull." he said, finally turning toward Kiba. "He went against the village. . . killed your dogs. . . I'm just wondering why the hell you would take in the children of the man who wouldn't think twice about killing you?"

"You don't understand, do you kid? I _am_ glad he stopped us." Kiba said while turning fully to looked at him, sighing at the perplexity that was probably on his face. "Yeah, maybe I never cared for your father. He's always been an arrogant ass I could barely stand to be around. Really, I never could understand what blondie saw in the guy. But when you put all that aside, there's one thing I know for damn sure, that man loves his family and would do _anything_ to keep them safe. And I have to respect him for that." Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes at those words. "So I'd rather have him beat me to a bloody pulp. . . than to have killed my best friend." Kiba shrugged. "May not like the guy, but at least he puts his family his top priority."

Shock over road his other senses. So much so that it took a minute for him to realize that tears were now sliding down his cheeks. He wiped at them, looking away. "Thanks, Uncle Kiba." he murmured. Relieved that maybe most of the other shinobi that fought against his father felt the same. Or could understand. He guessed what Kiba thought of his father did matter. On some level he wanted everyone to understand that his father didn't just betray the village. . . he was merely protecting his wife.

"Sure thing, kiddo." He moved to leave, his silent steps stopping close to the back door. Raiden heard him sniff, and since it wasn't uncommon for his Uncle to randomly sniff around, he didn't question it. "Hey, kid." He looked over at the older man, the broad grin featured on his face confusing him. Kiba jutted his chin toward the door, "You have a visitor."

This only confused him more, his brows creasing. He extended his senses out, checking for any familiar chakra signatures. And his breath stalled when he found the one he was least expecting. He moved quickly, disregarding the others as he jetted through the kitchen and went straight for the living room where all the voices were coming from. He froze in the entrance, transfixed by the image before him. Of his father being surrounded by his siblings in joyous glee.

"Raiden, Tou-san's out." he heard Chidori cry out, snapping him out of his daze.

He rushed forward, leaning over the twins and Umi hugging his legs and wrapping his arms around his father's middle. Relief flooded through him when he buried his face in his father's chest, breathing in the familiar scent. . . the security. And every piece of strength in him crumble, choking him up and causing him to seek comfort like he hasn't done since his mother was alive. A hand stroked through his hair, settling on the back of his head, and he realized through his tears that it was his father's way of telling him everything was going to be fine now. He held on tighter, knowing that wasn't the truth. Because as long as his mother was still out there, it would never be over.

"Uchiha." He heard his Uncle from behind him. He didn't move, only kept a hold of his father like he was going to disappear. "Uhh. . . wanted to say thanks. For. . . you know."

"Hmn." was his father's reply. It was so like him that it almost made him snort.

Although, Uncle Kiba was the one who did snort. "See you around kids." he said while moving away.

A long moment passed where he kept still, holding onto his father like Chidori was doing to his left and the three younger ones below. It was in this moment that he so desperately wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Where he could come home to his mom's greetings and bright smile and his dad sitting at the kitchen table going over the bills while continuously glancing up to look at mom. The need for that normal was so strong that it burned in his chest. But there was no point in hoping, because every time he did, it would shatter to reveal the reality of it all. A reality where that normal can never be reached again. . .

"Let's go home." his father said.

He was wrong though. Home wasn't a house. . . home was this.

* * *

The sun was setting outside by the time Tsunade stepped back into her office. Shadows were casting all around, but darkness wasn't prominent by the light flooding through the window from the dim colors of the sunset. She walked across the room and sat down, not bothering in turning on the table lamp. She stared at the shadows, just sitting there with only her thoughts plaguing her mind. Those thoughts of a visit that transpired four days ago. . .

She had entered her office like today, but that day, there was someone else present. Someone who made his presence known once she sat down and let her face fall into her hands from emotional and physical exhaustion.

"_It wasn't nice putting us against each other." A deep voice spoke from across the room._

_In a flash, she had the light turned on and was facing the older Naruto who sat on the couch against the wall. His legs were crossed, his body lounging in a comfortable manner, but the coldness that layered his features told her he wasn't here to reminiscence. They held a danger that kept her on the edge of her seat. She was already informed that the real Naruto was the one who was in control now, but chances couldn't be taken. Her body was wired tight when he stood from the couch, moving as swiftly as a cat towards her desk._

"_Naruto." she spoke cautiously, eying his movements carefully. "What brings you here?" She tried to act casual even when the question was a ridiculous one, but one that would let her know for sure who was taking the lead now._

_Shadows played across his face, obstructing her from seeing his face. But the growl that reach her ears was enough to convince her. "Why else would I be here? It's been a day, and Sasuke's still in jail." He moved into the light from her table lamp, and the hope that built of knowing that Kyuubi could fix him died as she viewed his eyes in the better light. They were still fully sapphire shining back at her, but at the corner of both his eyes there was a webbing of black. _

_She closed her eyes away from the truth. "There's nothing I can do about that." _

"_Bullshit." he snapped. "You're the Hokage. If you really wanted him out, he'd already be home."_

"_You and I both know that being Hokage doesn't hold as much power as people may think." she said, still keeping her eyes closed. "This is his second betrayal against Konoha. One that the Council isn't willing—"_

_Her desk shook violently which was accompanied by a loud thud, cutting her off in mid-sentence. Her eyes remained closed, her body still, being unperturbed by his behavior. "Look at me." he growled out. "Look at me!" he yelled when she didn't comply the first time. Reluctantly, she slowly opened her eyes and peered into his. Ones that shattered any hope she may have had on Naruto being saved. That black webbing being present proved it. . . _

_There was no saving him._

"_Do I look like I'm gonna be around for my kids." Naruto argued, "Sasuke's gonna be all they have left. You need to get him out."_

_She remained calm, forcing her voice to lack the emotion that was filling her chest unbearably. "I've already tried." _

"_Then try harder." he bit out with desperation lacing his tone._

"_I could lose my position." _

"_I don't care about your position!" he yelled with another slam of his hands. He stepped away from her desk, pacing across the room before coming back. "I don't care." he said in an eerily calm voice, but that fierce determination still blazed in those obscured eyes. "My kids are gonna need their father. And I don't care if you have to go to hell to get him out, but I want him out of that cell." The order was blatant, but the anger wouldn't come. She couldn't find any other emotion other than the misery that clouded her insides. _

_He moved towards the window, looking out in a daze. "He's all their gonna have. . ." he continued, but his features held a deep sadness that added to her guilt that swam in the pool of misery. "They can't lose him too. It's too cruel. . ."_

_Tears brimmed her eyes at the unfairness of it all. Why him? Why does it always have to happen to him? "I'm sorry. . ." she choked out, unable to hold have the few tears that slid down her cheek. "I wish—"_

"_Don't." he demanded, still staring out the window. "There's no more time for 'could haves'. My time is just up, it's as simple as that."_

_A sob broke through her lips at hearing that. He was so willing to give up. To just give up his life with his children — with Sasuke. Was there really nothing that could be done? But even as this question ran through her mind, she knew the answer to it already. She knew before, but now it was really settling in her mind. Sinking in and giving her too much to handle. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do. . . How could she handle that?_

_More tears fell, and she lifted her hand to cover her face. She couldn't stop her tears now, and they freely feel. Even as she felt Naruto open the window. "Brat." she called out before he could leave. She felt him pause, giving her time to ask the one question she needed answered. "If I can get Sasuke out. . . could you ever forgive me?" She needed this. She needed to know that even after all she's done — every effort she's done to end his life — even go as far as to put Sasuke against him — that he understood that she had to put the village first. As disgusting as it sounds, she needed that forgiveness if she ever wanted to rest in peace. _

_It took a long moment before Naruto answered, "If you can get him out. . . then yes."_

After that, he was gone. Leaving her with an ache in her chest that she cried and drank through for the rest of the night. The next day, she began the exhausting procedure of getting Sasuke out of jail. It involved more arguing and threats than she has ever done in her lifetime. But eventually the Council saw it her way, and gave consent in releasing him. Though it didn't come without a price.

She sighed as she focused on the piece of paper laying on her desk. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it before. More so since this whole situation began. It was because she didn't understand anymore. How could she understand how to put the village first and the ones she loved second? She couldn't. Not anymore. Those past few choices was enough to destroy her sense of loyalty to the village. They turned their backs on one of their most loyal Hokages, choosing to take the easy route and kill him rather than attempt to find a cure.

It was the village who betrayed Naruto. And that betrayal made her decision that much more easier.

She picked up the piece of paper, and stared down at it. The same written letter she wrote hours before was what she saw. Her resignation. This was it, she's had enough. Being Hokage has taken it's toll, and it was time to throw in the towel and let someone else suffer in the position. It wasn't like she wasn't more than happy to give it up. But mainly, she can go on with her life knowing that it helped get Sasuke out of jail. That it helped fulfill Naruto's last wish and her own. . .

Laying the paper back on her desk, she stood from her chair, heading to the door with her stash of sake in hand. _This job will eat one's soul away._ she thought with a bittersweet smile. _I hope you can handle it, Sakura._

* * *

The older Sasuke was the first to enter the Uchiha mansion, his children and the younger Team Seven behind him. The second he stepped foot in the alcove, he felt him. The one chakra signature he would never forget. He paused at the entrance, debating in allowing his children any further. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to them. Yet, he continued on to the first entrance to the living room, Sharingan activated and eying the darkened corner to his far right. The only reason being the lack of malicious intent in his chakra signature.

"Raiden, take your brother and sisters upstairs now." he ordered, uncaring about the younger Team Seven right now. His family's safety came first. Always.

"Tou-san." was the only thing his eldest son said before he began to herd his siblings toward the repaired stairs.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"Nothing." came Raiden's curt reply.

His body stayed wired tight and ready to spring into action as his children and the younger Team Seven passed the second, unguarded entrance to the living room. When they were all safely upstairs, Sasuke moved into the living room, not relaxing until he was sure who he was dealing with. He couldn't risk his guard being lowered and then being mistaken. Not when his children could be the ones who got hurt.

He stopped halfway into the living room and spoke out in an even tone, "Naruto."

The shadows seemed to thin at the sound of his voice, and a figure formed, stepping out casually into the dim light that was coming from the outside. A lump formed in his throat at the sight of his wife, unable to keep his emotions from bubbling up in his chest. _Dobe. . ._

"Hey, teme."


	23. My Final Moment

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its' characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twenty-Three

**My Final Moment**

"Hey, teme."

The older Naruto stopped just outside of the shadows, his jacket open and his hands in his pants pockets. He could have appeared casual if he didn't know he was so tired. It was a type of weariness that went all the way to the bone, but at the sight of Sasuke. . . his husband. . . his strength, he knew he couldn't fall just yet. There was just one more thing. . . One more thing before he could finally rest. . .

A long moment passed where neither spoke, and he couldn't take the silence that settled. Not when the parasite and Kyuubi were constantly battling inside him, screaming and roaring in his head. It was enough to have him breaking the silence first, saying, "It took Baa-chan long enough to get you out." Even if it was to hear his own voice, it was enough to distract him from his inner battle. He took a step to his right, then another, unable to stay still for too long. Sharingan adorned eyes followed his every move as he walked in a slow pace to the other side of the room. "Though I wanted you out the very first day." he continued. "I guess it's better late than never."

"You had something to do with it." Sasuke stated, already knowing.

His eyes closed at the sound of his voice. It being a much better distraction than his own. "Maybe." He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, then turning and facing Sasuke. He shrugged, "A threat here, a threat there. . . it was easy. Especially still having. . ." He circled his face with his hand, trying to indicated the visual effects still present from the infection. "Problems."

"Why did you come here, Naruto?" Sasuke asked in a tone that showed a slightest bit of worry while his muscles finally loosened. "You know what kind of stupidity this is?"

He had to smile at that. That's definitely something Sasuke would say. "That's so like you Sasuke. I could be on my death bed and you would still—" He was cut off when suddenly he was enveloped in strong arms, surrounding him with a sense of protection he desperately sought for the past two years. His first instinct was to surrender to the man he longed for, but it was too late for that warmth. It would be too cruel to his husband. . . too cruel to himself. "Sasuke, don't." He tried to pull away, but lacked the strength to force himself out of those arms.

Sasuke's breath was hot against his ear when he spoke, "You're such an idiot. They'll kill you on sight."

"It sounds more like you think my abilities are lacking." He tried to joke, but it lacked the humor. There was nothing humorous about their situation. But what else was he suppose to do — break down and cry? There wasn't any time for that. Not anymore. If he succumb now, there was no way he was ever going to get back up. No way that he was going to be able to do what needed to be done. To protect them. . . he'll do anything.

The arms encircling him tightened. "Forty to one will have nothing to do with your abilities." he said, burrowing his face in the crook of his neck. "They'll make sure they finish the job."

"Can't allow that. . ." he trailed off when he noticed four chakra signatures coming from the hall. He glanced over to the entrance and saw four heads poking around the corner. The younger Team Seven and his eldest son, Raiden. He was tempted to shake his head in disbelief, but instead decided to leave them be and finished saying, "Have one more thing to do before I can throw in the towel."

Sasuke pulled back then, sharingan deactivated, and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Meaning?"

Naruto stepped away from those tempting arms, moving around the couch in the middle of the room. He looked at the couch, vaguely sure that the parasite destroyed everything in the living room. But then he remembered about how fast Genin can work. It shouldn't surprise him that the living room was already remodeled by now. He forced himself to refocused back on what he came here to do. "I came to say goodbye, Sasuke." He didn't look up when he said it. He didn't really have to. He could imagine the blank expression on the Uchiha's features — his defensive mechanism when emotions surfaced he couldn't quite handle. "I never got to last time. . ."

"What are you talking about?" The monotone of his voice was like a physical blow, just knowing the turmoil that must have been ignited with those simple words. He kept himself from looking over at his husband, to stay from seeing the pain in those onyx eyes. It'd be too much. He closed his eyes and continued to roam around the living room just to keep himself moving. . . to keep himself from stopping and realizing the true depth of what he's about to do.

"Once I leave here. . . I won't be coming back."

Those words apparently were enough to have Sasuke moving, because in a span of two seconds he was next to him with his hand grabbing his arm. He yanked, spinning him so he faced his husband. Naruto didn't look in his eyes though, not until Sasuke took a hold his chin and forced him to. His sharingan was activated again, either out of pain or anger he wasn't sure. "So you're just going to leave your family over something that can cured."

"You're wrong." he said lowly, "No matter what you think, Sasuke, you can't save me."

"If you'd just give me time."

"I don't have time!" Naruto burst, finding the strength to shove Sasuke away. To keep that temptation at a safe distance. Yet, once he said it, he almost immediately regretted it, because there was no hiding the anguish that shadowed his face. He softened his tone when he continued, "I don't have time, Sasuke. You think if I could be saved that Kyuubi would've already done it. It's just too late. The parasite has already infused with my blood. Kyuubi's doing all he can to keep me in control without killing me."

It was hard to watch the inklings of hopelessness enter those pale features. "There has to be something."

_So stubborn. . ._ he thought as he shook his head. "Even if there was, I don't have the time to spare." He was dreading even speaking this next part. It would only be another nail in his husband's battered heart. But there was no getting around it, not with Sasuke. "Kyuubi's efforts are putting too much strain on my body. It's only a matter of time before the strain kills me."

"And if Kyuubi backs off?"

"It won't make a difference. Kyuubi's chakra was completely sealed off before, now it's freely flowing like it's suppose to. As long as Kyuubi flows free, his chakra will automatically fight against the infection."

"Then we have to seal Kyuubi again. It'd give you more time." The seriousness that was clearly seen had Naruto staring at Sasuke with disbelief.

"No." he said with absolutely no doubts. "That would leave the parasite free reign and I'll be damned if it attacks my family again."

"So, you'd rather die?"

"Yes!" he was shouting now. He took the couple of steps that separated him and Sasuke, standing right in front of him with anger so fierce he was ready to punch him. "You have any idea what it was ready to do to our son? It was ready to fucking _torture_ our son, Sasuke! My hands! They were gonna torture our little boy. . . and it'd have enjoy it." His anger drained from him as quickly as it surfaced, gazing up at Sasuke's lowered face. He grabbed his face and lifted it so he could see into those onyx. So much hopelessness that it broke his heart. "No, Sasuke. I'm sorry but I'll rather die before I let that ever happen again."

A tear slid down Sasuke's cheek, and it was instinct that he lift and kiss it away. His mistake. When he withdrew, it was only an inch and Sasuke's lips were right there to meet him. At first, it was only a soft graze of lips as their eyes kept contact. He prayed that Sasuke would step back, that he'd be the one to save them both the agony if they continued down this path. But that prayer was left unanswered when Sasuke leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly against his. He closed his eyes and moaned in pleasure at the contact.

This couldn't happen. It would only make it that much harder for the both of them. The strength he had though wasn't the strength he needed to push Sasuke away. That strength was long gone. He needed Sasuke as badly as he needed to breath. Sasuke was the only one who could stop this now. And the way Sasuke's arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer, he needed this as much as he did. But that need was going to destroy them.

"Sasuke. . ." he said when they separated to breath. "Don't. . ."

"Shut up." Those words were breathed on his lips. "Please, dobe. . . just shut up."

There was so much desperateness in his voice that there was no more arguments left in him. He let himself drown in Sasuke's warmth. Sucking on the tongue that invaded his mouth, he released his hold on Sasuke's waist to allow him to slip his jacket from his shoulders. Then he pulled up his shirt, and he detached his lips from Sasuke's and lifted his arms. The shirt was removed and discarded to the floor like his jacket. They were only separated for only a second before their lips were passionately connected again. Then scorching hot hands were on his chest, roaming down his cold flesh. He groaned, a shiver running through him.

He grabbed at the hem of Sasuke's shirt, yanking up until Sasuke stepped back and lifted his arms up so the hindering materiel could be taken off. His hand came up to touch his chest, and paused when he saw the complexion of his own skin. It was as pale as Sasuke's. He used to love that contrast of his dark tan and Sasuke's ivory. Now it was just another sign that there was no going back.

Leaning forward, he took a nipple into his mouth, receiving a moan from his raven. Sasuke's hand cupped the back of his head as he grazed his teeth over the erect nub, his hand pinching and twisting the other. He was ready to take the other nipple in his mouth, but the hand on the back of his head gripped his hair and pulled him up to meet eager lips. He gladly let the tongue slide in his mouth, feeling Sasuke's hand grab his ass and push his forward. They both gasped in the kiss when his erection pressed into the hard length of his husband's. There was no stopping now. . . he couldn't. . . not even when he wanted to.

"Sasuke. . ." he moaned as those wicked lips attacked his neck, sucking and licking from his earlobe to his shoulder blade. He ran his hand through dark strands, growling and gripping them tight when Sasuke bit his neck. "Fuck." That action went straight down to his throbbing cock. His hips met with Sasuke's with the help of the hand on his ass, pushing him forward with force. It had him drunk on the sensations running wild through his body. Drunk enough where the burning just beneath his skin was barely noticeable.

He was slowly maneuvered backwards, landing on the couch when the back of his knees hit it. He looked up at Sasuke, his hands going to his hips and drawing him closer. In slow motion, he unbuckled the raven's pants. Those pants came down, revealing the dark course hair and hard length hidden underneath. Sasuke stepped out of his pants as he licked his lips. He was tempted to take it into his mouth and enjoy the taste of his husband, but there was that small doubt. One that told him that it might be possible for Sasuke to get infected by oral sex. It was infused in his blood, and it was that doubt that he wasn't going to take a chance on.

So instead, he took a hold of the throbbing cock posed in front of him and tantalizingly ran his hand up and down its' length. He looked up and found Sasuke's onyx locked on his every movement. Those depths filled with such desire it sent a familiar thrill down his spine. Just knowing how he could affect the stoic man, it was enough to set his insides on fire.

He ran his tongue from the dark hairs to a jutting hip. He stopped there, sucking on that spot as his hand jerk faster. A groan was his reward, and he nibbled on the bruising area of flesh while pressing his thumb to the tip to gain another one. He was suddenly yanked back and pressed into the couch. Sasuke was back against him, mouth roughly kissing him and his body spreading his legs open for him to fit between them.

Sasuke rocked, his cock sliding up and down against the rough materiel of his pants. Naruto lifted his hips to meet his husband's, the sensations too much to hold back. He felt the raven's hand move between them, unbuckling his pants, and then shoving that hand down his pants and grabbing a hold of his cock.

He practically slammed his hips toward that touch, "Sasuke!" he gasped loudly.

The upturn of the lips next to his neck told him that Sasuke was smirking. It was no surprise. With the way he was reacting to every little touch the raven was giving, he was surprised he wasn't doing more than just that.

"Sasuke. . ." he moaned again when Sasuke nipped then licked his collar bone. That was the start of the hot trail that was leading down to his weeping cock. And when Sasuke grabbed the base of his cock, a warning bell sounded in his head – helping him to focus.

He pushed against Sasuke's shoulder just as he was about to put him in his mouth. "No." he said more clearly than what he was expecting.

A questioning eyebrow was raised. "No?" Then a sly half-smile followed. "So, you don't want me to take your cock into my mouth and run my tongue all over it?"

His cock twitched at the imagery that his mind unwillingly offered. God, he wanted it. He really did, but that doubt kept poking at the corners of his mind and it had him stopping Sasuke again when he leaned forward for another attempt. "Sasuke, don't."

There was no teasing this time when Sasuke frowned, and leaned back on his haunches on the floor. Those dark eyes stared at him, a hint of hurt hidden deep in their depths. "Then what can I do?" The way he said it had him cringing.

"Sasuke. . ." he almost whined. "It's not. . . It's just. . . I just don't want to take any chances."

"Chances?"

"Yes, chances!" he snapped, frustrated that this discussion had to come up now when he was hard and in the mood for nothing more than what Sasuke was willing to offer. "I'm not gonna take the chance that I might infect you too." Was that so much to keep from happening?

Understanding shined brightly in Sasuke's eyes. He opened his mouth – probably to argue – and before he could, Naruto firmly placed his hand over his mouth. "I don't want to argue right _now_. If you want to fuck me Sasuke, you better get a condom to do it."

Sasuke yanked his hand away from his mouth. "A condom?"

"Are you gonna repeat everything I say?"

"I'm not using a condom."

"Then you're not getting your dick anywhere near me." he growled out at Sasuke.

He smirked, "Is that so?" and then leaned forward.

"Sasuke." he tried to warn, but when those lips met his neck, his argument was silenced by his own gasp of pleasure. He felt hands slide down to his hips, then gripped his pants, and yanked down to his calves. His knees were spread further, and he couldn't help but moan at the contact of their groins. It was sheer ecstasy. Then he began to move, and dammit, the moans wouldn't stop. The pleasure was too good, it was causing him to lose the fight with his determination.

Before he lost all his will to refuse the man above him, he gripped the hair his hand was already running through, and pulled. "Dammit Sasuke, please. . . please just get a condom." he cried out.

It must have been the way he said it, because there was a growl next to his ear right before he lost the weight on him. He opened his eyes and saw that Sasuke was heading to the kitchen. He gave out a sigh, either from relief or annoyance, he wasn't sure. He laid there for a moment, trying to calm down enough where he could focus away from the lust raging through his body. He rubbed his face, then took his shoes off and removed his pants the rest of the way. Now being completely naked, he leaned back against the couch, forcing himself not to touch himself.

His eyes landed on the entrance to the living room and remembered about the previous viewers. He checked and found that only two remained. He didn't even have to guess to know which two were left. Curiosity be damned. He should feel embarrassed about having an audience. Yet, he was at the point where he just didn't care. Let them watch. Maybe they can learn a thing or two for later on.

He smile at that, and turned his attention to the direction of the kitchen, his brows furrowing in question.

Did they even have any condoms?

The more he thought about it, they never used condoms during their whole relationship. Not once. It's probably the main reason why they have so many kids. Plus the times when they couldn't just have one. That didn't help either.

It was almost like nothing had changed. It felt like one of those nights where Sasuke and him were trying to sneak in some sex while the kids were finally asleep. The feeling was so strong that it squeezed his chest tightly and had his eyes stinging. He could never have that again. This wasn't a quick roll in the sheets before the kids interrupted. This was goodbye. . .

Sasuke stepped back into the entrance to the kitchen, his naked body clearly seen even in the darkness. The gorgeous panes and contours; he ate each one up as the raven moved back toward him. His moment of clarity was replaced by his desire for the man now standing in front of him. Those dark eyes taking in all of him like he was a buffet ready to be devour.

A small silver packet was thrown on his chest. "There, are you happy now?" Sasuke said, positioning himself as before.

"You always made me happy. . ." he murmured as he picked up the packet. "I didn't think we had any. How old is this thing?" Waving it back and forth in front of Sasuke face.

Sasuke shrugged, barely listening with the way he seemed to head for his neck and attach those sinful lips to it. "Hell if I know." The hot air next to his ear sending little shocks of electricity throughout his body. "Bought 'em after the twins were born."

Ah, yes. . . when Tsunade wanted to make sure they didn't have any more kids for at least a year after the rough delivery of the twins. Naruto snorted, that worked as good as telling a drunk not to drink when there's a bar right in front of him. "Hope it still works." he asked in amusement.

"Well, you wanted it, aren't you going to put it on?" Sasuke said while leaning back on his knees that straddled his left leg, his dick bouncing proudly just a foot from his face.

"I don't know how to put a condom on."

"And I do? Before now, I never had to use one."

"Can't you just do it?" he pouted, jutting out his bottom lip that usually got him his way.

Sasuke smirked and shook his head in a manner that spoke of arrogance. "Unlike you dobe, I have no problems going without it."

His face hardened and he knew he glared as good as the older Uchiha. "Asshole." he muttered, and jerked forward. While ripping the packet open, he heard a throaty chuckle come from Sasuke, and out of retaliation, he grabbed his cock and yanked. He can guarantee that Sasuke stopped laughing then, especially with the grunt and the tingling at the back of his neck that followed. This time, he was the one who was smirking as he held the rolled-up condom in his hand.

It took a long moment of debating before he just decided to roll it on. So without wasting anymore time, he put the condom to the tip of Sasuke's cock. The shaft twitched at the same time that Sasuke inhaled sharply. He unraveled it on the cock, and gave it a little tug at the end to make sure it was on there securely. Before he could give another little tug, both of his wrists were grabbed and pinned over his head.

"I think you've had your fun." Sasuke breathed on his lips before he captured them in a passionate kiss. He got lost in it. Let himself forget and just feel the man who gave him the only happiness he's ever known.

A nudge to his inner thigh had him willingly opening his legs further, allowing Sasuke the room he needed. Their lips separated, replaced with three fingers being presented to him. He didn't even think when he put them in his mouth and began to suck on the digits. It was natural. Condoms weren't the only things they never used, lube was another. The burn, it was proof of Sasuke's presence. And he never wanted to ease it with any sort of lube. Now didn't change that.

The fingers were released and they trailed downward. He sucked in a breath when the first finger circled his entrance, then entered in one push. It's been too long – too long since he was with Sasuke. And the fact that he practically screamed when his prostate was stimulated was proof of that. He pushed down hard on the finger. Only one, and he was ready to have all of Sasuke.

"Fuck. . ." he cursed when the second finger was added. "Sasuke. . ." His head was thrown back, back arched, and hips rocking against the fingers. "Sasuke. . . need. . ."

"What do you need?" Sasuke spoke in a tone of such calmness, one he despised. It was like none of this was affecting him at all. An attribute of the raven he couldn't stand. Yet, he knew better. Even that calmness didn't hide the need – the pure desire that trembled through the others' very bones.

"You. . ." he breathed out in a rush. He reached between them and pulled the fingers from his ass, then positioned the stiff cock in their place. "All of you. . ."

Sasuke leaned his head on his shoulder and groaned, his hips giving a little push forward to his entrance. "You're not fully stretched."

"I. . ." He gripped the raven's hips with his legs. ". . . don't. . ." Using his legs, he pushed Sasuke forward. ". . . care."

His hip was grabbed in a vice grip as Sasuke's cock breached his walls. "Naruto. . ." Sasuke moaned at the same time that he bottomed out in one quick thrust.

"Sasuke!" he screamed out.

"Dammit. . ." He could tell that Sasuke was struggling from moving. "Are you – "

Naruto used his anal muscles to shut Sasuke up. He didn't want to be coddled. It was too late for that. He just wanted to drown in every sensation – in every moment he had left. . .

He grabbed Sasuke's face and lifted it to where he could stare into the lust filled orbs. "Move Sasuke." He leaned up to kiss him and stopped short, whispering on those lips, "Just make love to me. . ."

That was the breaking point. Sasuke smashed his lips to his, tongue filling his mouth as his cock extracted most of the way and pushed back in. They both moaned at the exquisite feel of his cock moving inside him. A pace was quickly set, their bodies moving in sync and sliding along each other from the glistening sweat. There were no more thoughts, no more problems – there was the two of them and that primal need consuming and building.

It had him vigorously meeting each thrust, pushing him closer to that edge. So close. . . he was getting so close.

Wetness on his shoulder sobered him up some. "Sasuke. . ." he tried to say but it came out more as a gasp instead.

"Don't leave me. . ." he heard desperately from Sasuke. "Please, don't leave me. . ."

The brokenness that resonated from his voice contradicted with his powerful thrusts. He opened his mouth to say something but Sasuke chose that moment to jerk his hips forward, sending him over the edge. His vision whitened out, muscles clenching and nails raking, he came in hot spurts.

When he slumped against the couch, he didn't feel the familiar warmth in him. And for a split second, he panicked, thinking that Sasuke didn't come even when he felt the other stiffen above him. It took him a moment to remember the condom. He calmed down then, running his hand through the soft strands of raven hair.

"I'm not wearing a condom again." Sasuke stated. "I don't like it."

He snorted, amused. "You know you just sounded like Kaze when he first ate peas."

Sasuke lifted himself up with his arms, hovering above him and staring down at him blankly. There was no amusement in those red-rimmed eyes, the tears still present and appearing ready to fall any minute. His amusement deflated and he frowned at those orbs of hopelessness. They brought the reality back to the forefront of his mind, reminding him that this was only temporary. It wasn't something he could keep. And he had to wonder if he ever had the chance of doing so.

He placed his thumbs over them, hiding them from his view, and rubbed the tears away. "You lived without me once. . . now won't be any different." Sasuke's chest shook silently as the wetness behind his thumbs grew, bypassing them and cascading down pale cheeks. It was hard to know that he was the one who was causing the raven such pain. So much so that he couldn't hide it anymore.

Leaning up, he capture Sasuke's lips in a slow and tantalizing kiss. Not only to distract the raven, but also to distract himself. This soon led into another more sensual round of sex.

Afterward, they laid together; limbs tangled with Naruto's head comfortably laying on Sasuke's chest. He waited patiently. . . waited as the sleeping agent he injected Sasuke with took affect. He sighed as he listened to the beat of the heart below his ear. This was his safe place, there in Sasuke's arms. . . but it wasn't enough to hide the reality of things.

The reality where happy endings just don't exist.

For a long while, he laid there. Then, without allowing his mind time to think, he pushed himself off of Sasuke and stood by the couch. That's as far as he got before he stopped and – for the first time that night – felt a tear slide down his cheek. He forced his eyes closed, breathing deeply to calm what was left of him. He couldn't break down now. It was too late for those tears. It was. . . It was just too late. . .

He got dressed sluggishly, not bothering about being sneaky. He injected Sasuke with enough sleeping agent to keep him asleep till morning. It was the only way he was getting out of the house without a fight. There was no question that Sasuke would destroy half of Konoha to keep him there. No question about it.

It took great effort to get dressed. Especially when all he wanted was to remove those same clothes and slip back in by Sasuke's side. Yet, he didn't. Instead, he got fully dressed and draped his jacket over Sasuke's naked form. It was a fight with himself to turn his back on his husband. . . on his mate. . . and then he left the room. He couldn't turn back, doing so would only risk what he fought so hard to protect. And he wouldn't, at any cost, risk what he loved most.

Stepping into the hall, he stopped and debated if he should see his children one last time. It wasn't a question really. The painful twist in his gut told him he would regret it if he didn't. Unfortunately though, he wasn't going to be able to visit the triplets. The security at the hospital was too high for him to sneak in and out. He guessed he would have to deal the mental image he had of his little boys.

He took one step toward the stairs and that's when the younger Sasuke and Naruto, who he thought were asleep against the wall, sprung up and intercepted him. He felt a small twinge of amusement through the mass of annoyance at the fighting stances they were in. It would have been more funny if he was in the mood to deal with them. His patience though, was lacking presently.

"Move." he growled at the two.

"No." his younger self spoke firmly as they stiffed at his tone, but otherwise remained in place. "You're not getting anywhere near them."

He glared at the boy, and the instinctual movement that the younger Sasuke made when he took a step forward had him smiling bitterly. "I didn't know back then. . ." he found himself saying. ". . . how much I mattered to you. I wished I did, maybe things could have been different. Maybe things. . . wouldn't have turned out like this."

"It doesn't have to be like this." The younger Sasuke said, those same orbs staring back at him with that same desperateness. Such desperateness he just couldn't take it anymore. "If you'd just listen – "

In one swift movement, he had his younger self pinned to one wall cursing while he had the younger Sasuke pinned to the other. "I've heard enough from my husband. I can't bear to hear anymore. This is just how your futures turn out."

"Bullshit!" His younger self cursed, struggling against his hold. "You're not even fighting it, you're just giving up." A sob escaped the boy's throat and his struggling ceased. "Aren't they worth living for?"

"Living isn't an option anymore." he said flatly, distancing himself the moment he turned his back on Sasuke. "All I can do – to protect them – is die for them."

"Then what is there to look forward to if this is the end?"

The hopelessness was all too familiar, causing him to turn and stare at the younger Sasuke. The boy's stare was downward and his body slack. It reminded him of a brief moment when Sasuke was speaking about his family during their fight in the Valley of the End. It was so brief, but it stayed with him. Maybe because it was the first time he's ever seen such emotion from the raven.

His hold loosened on the two boys, his movements slow as he removed his hands from them. "You have to wonder?" He stared into those onyx orbs. "You've seen all eight and still you question it. Our happiness may have been brief, but it was all worth it for them." He moved then, to his origina destination.

This time, he only got a flinch from the two. He paused shortly, reassuring them, "I'm only going to say goodbye."

Neither said anything as he climbed the stairs, both close behind him. The irritation he should have felt didn't surface as he neared Chidori's bedroom door. It took him a long moment before he could opened that door and step inside. Chidori laid on the bed with her arms protectively around Umi, who held Popochi to her chest – both fast asleep. The younger Sakura slept on top of futon on the floor. She hugged her pillow and was snoring lightly.

He stepped over Sakura as he approached the bed that held two of his little girls. His babies. Nostalgia flooded him; remembering the days when they were born, when they first spoke – all the moments that mattered came back to him. It caused the distance he was trying so desperately to hold on to, to slowly fade.

An image of Chidori cowering against broken stairs flashed in his mind, a memory of the parasite's. A memory of his doing. . .

His legs buckled, and he fell to his knees by the bed. And there it was, the pain, he could feel it surface and threaten to suffocate him. Still, he fought against it. . . Still, he fought not to lose himself in the agony the loomed just out of reach.

Taking a deep breath to center himself, he stood and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on each of their foreheads. He quickly left the room then, passing the two younger males of Team Seven. They were the ones who closed the door silently as he moved to the twin's room.

Like Chidori and Umi, the twin's were asleep in the same bed with their backs to each other. Even when there was two beds in the room, they always seemed to make it to the same bed by morning. It never worried him, the twins were always close even when they were at odds with each other. And they were always at odds when they were younger.

Their constant fighting and bickering brought a smile to his face. There was hardly no end, only when they were sleeping was there ever any peace. His smile flattened at knowing why it all stopped.

He reached out and moved loose strands away from Sora's face. Placing a kiss on her forward, he then moved to do the same to Kaze. Only when he stared down at Kaze did he find the same sapphire as his own staring back up at him. "Mommy?"

He froze in place, panic rising in his chest. They weren't suppose to know he was ever there. It was too cruel for them, to think he was back only for him to be gone again. He was an idiot to think he could get away with it. Too selfish to die without one last goodbye.

"Mommy?"

Kaze's voice snapped him out of his shock, and with trembling limbs, whispered, "Hey, baby."

"You came back. . ." The small smile he showed now lowered into a frown. "But you're not staying, are you mommy?"

That distance he now so desperately needed, evaporated in an instant. His chest burned and ached, his lip quivering uncontrollably at how innocently he asked. He shook his head, his mouth unable to answer for him.

Kaze launched off the bed and wrapped his small arms around him. "I don't want you to go." he said, burying his face in his chest.

It broke his already battered and bleeding heart. "Kaze. . ." he sobbed, tears falling. "I have to." The tears of his baby boy filled his senses, and he

hugged him closer. "I love you. I love all of you, you have to know that. It won't ever change. . ." He kissed the side of Kaze's head before he pulle his son from him.

His little boy's shoulders shook and small hiccups came from him, and it was almost too must to bear. He came so close to breaking. . . so close to just laying down and curling up himself to cry. Instead, he gave one last kiss to Kaze's forehead before standing and leaving the room. He had to take deep breaths once he got into the hall, leaning against the wall. He clenched his eyes shut as he forcibly ignored his instincts to turn back around at the sounds of his son's soft cries.

Barely regaining himself, he moved further down the hall – to the last door. His hand was trembling when he opened it, stepping in, and seeing his eldest laying on his side with his back to him. His first born. The one he panicked and feared over. He was so scared when he first found out he was pregnant. Afraid of how Sasuke would react. The most ironic part was, Sasuke chose that same day he planned on telling him to ask him to marry him. Let's just say, he wasn't the only one who got a surprise that evening.

He bent down and brushed his hand through blond strands. The memory of his own hands harming his son had him choking on a sob. He knew what the parasite wanted to do to his baby, knew the pain it wanted to inflict. . . and it made him nauseous just thinking about it.

He kissed the side of Raiden's forehead and whispered, "Please forgive me, Raiden. I'm so sorry." This time, his sobs broke free and he tried his best to stifle them. "I'm so sorry. . ." he whispered once more. With a final kiss, he stood. It took him a long moment before he could get his feet to move and head toward the door. This was it. There was no more stalling. . .

"I f-forgive you, K-Kaa-san."

The sound of his son's voice had him stopping, but only briefly. If he stopped now when there was just one more thing to do, he wouldn't have enough strength to move again. He had to end it though. That single determination to protect his family got him to the door.

"G-Goodbye K-Kaa-s-san." he heard right before he closed the door behind him.

He had to take a moment to collect himself – to wipe away the weakness and harden his shredded heart. His time has officially ended. And amazingly enough, he's suffered enough pain over the last few hours that now. . . he's achieved that _genuine_ distance he's been seeking. He guessed it was better late than never. Or maybe he needed it now more than ever. Just to leave. . .

"H-How can y-you do it?" The broken question came from his younger self.

He turned to the boy, seeing the tears that ran down his scarred cheeks. He wasn't surprised – he's always been emotional. The younger Sasuke was leaned against the opposite wall, head down and eyes closed. It was no different when his husband tries to hide himself from what he fears would hurt him. It was strange to see how much they have changed, yet see the things that's always stayed the same.

"H-How can you g-give up t-the one thing we wanted most?"

That got the younger Sasuke's attention, who turned and stared at the boy.

"A family. . ." Naruto whispered loud enough for the younger Sasuke to hear. "That's what we've always wanted. We've never had one. . ." He fell silent for a short moment, holding tight on that distance. "You ask how I can give it all up? It's because they _are_ my family that I'll throw it all away. This is how far we'll go to protect the ones we love."

The sounds of his boots echoed in his ears like marching drums as he turned and headed to the end of the hall. He stopped when he got there. _There is no going back. . ._ he told himself.

"I love you."

Those three words came from the younger Sasuke, the smell of his tears filling his nose. He closed his eyes and savored the sound. It warmed him up and made everything alright again. It made everything so clear.

"Love you too, Sasuke."

Then the wind rose, circling around him. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing before a one story building just outside of Kaminari no Kuni. The simplicity of the structure wasn't to be fooled, there were several underground levels to the building. A fallback hideout if the primary was breached. There were two others like it, but fools will always remain fools. The two who considered themselves his _masters_ were within those walls. Those two individuals who he'd be able to find no matter the situation. They were the ones who led him there. They were the ones who'll be responsible for their demise.

He'll definitely have to thank them.

He didn't give himself time for it all to sink in. No time to look back and regret. He moved forward, concentrating on his and Kyuubi's chakra. Contracting and compacting the two. For a split second, pain surged through his body at the sudden change in his chakra. Almost causing him to lose control to the parasite. With the help of Kyuubi, he kept in control and continued to compact both chakras tightly.

It took less than a minute to kill the guards at the entrance. His presence though, wasn't unnoticed. The alarms blared out as he entered the building. Summoning Kage Bushin, he dispatched them to every exit, ensuring no one got out. He went straight, down a long hallway. Like ants, one by one, men and women tried to stop him. And one by one, he took them down.

Climbing down two flights of stairs and turning down different corridors, he came upon the two men who caused it all. Haruka and Ketsuke.

"N-Naruto-sama." stuttered Ketsuke, inching backwards.

Haruka stood his ground, glaring. "Well well, Naruto-sama. Isn't this a pleasant surprise."

There was no surprise about it. They knew he would come. Knew he wouldn't rest until they all were dead. It was his final act he intended to complete. Because if he was going to die, then he was going to take them all down with him.

He stood, unmoving and watched as a long blade slid from Haruka's sleeve. Just as slowly as the blade was revealed, Naruto's lip upturned into a feral smirk. Like they were going to fight. He wasn't going to let it get that far.

The fierce hold he had over the compacted chakra, he suddenly let go of.

Sealing his fate as the chakra exploded violently outward. . . destroying everything within a five mile radius.

_Goodbye Sasuke. . ._


	24. Rinse And Repeat

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

Continuum of Chaos

Chapter Twenty-four

**Rinse and Repeat**

Kakashi raced through the woods, the trees blurring by as he leaped from tree branch to tree branch. Just moments before, an ominous storm formed suddenly over the forest to the east. Similar to the one that appeared at the same time that his charges disappeared two weeks ago.

He pushed more chakra into his legs to gain more speed, his worry for his students causing him to be rash. It's been two weeks, and this was his last hope. After several search parties, after countless investigations and waiting to see if by chance kidnappers would contact them, people were beginning to believe them dead. They were slowly giving up. If they didn't find any sort of clue to their whereabouts within the first week, it was most likely they never would.

Just as suddenly as the storm appeared, it dissipated. And there they were, the chakra signatures of his three students. He breathed a sigh of relief, sensing their chakra signatures meant that they were still alive. His speed increased without the wind hindering him and he came upon three forms on the forest floor. Unmoving. . .

The sight of Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura laying limp on the ground caused his relief to fill with acid. Death wasn't always the worst that can happen to a shinobi. He checked each of them over, made sure they were breathing, and found they didn't have any marks on them. That didn't lower his anxiety. There were many forms of torture. Many of which didn't require laying a finger on them.

He summoned his faithful canine, Pakkun. "Get to the Hokage-sama. Tell her I found them and am heading to the hospital."

Pakkun disappeared as he created two Kage Bunshins. He carried Sakura, while his copies carried Naruto and Sasuke, and they set off back toward Konoha at full speed. He just hoped that his charges were alright. . .

* * *

The light blinded Sasuke as he attempted to crack open an eye. Shutting them, he shifted a little and felt the stiffness of his body. Lifting his arm, he used it to shade his eyes when he opened them again. A white ceiling is what he saw. One he could only associate with a hospital room. Now the real question was: How did he get there?

"Sasuke-kun?"

He closed his eyes and covered them with his arm. Sakura was not the person he wanted to see right now. His head hurt and he was slightly confused. Her obsession was not welcomed.

"Sasuke-kun, are you awake?"

_No, I'm dead._ That caused a series of images to flash through his mind. Too fast for him to see any of them. But the pain that filled his chest, then spiked in his head was enough to have him groaning. He rubbed his forehead in an attempt to sooth the pain as the side of his bed dipped.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura's worried voice sounded again.

For a short moment, he forgotten she was even there. Too bad he couldn't stay oblivious to her presence for long. He opened his eyes and glared at her. She was too close with being sat on the bed. That though, was soon replaced when he noticed she was wearing a hospital gown. That was strange, Sakura was rarely in the hospital. He then looked down at himself, and found the same one as hers. It felt wrong. The whole thing felt terribly wrong.

"What happened?" he asked, the pain in his head lowering to a dull thud.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. When she opened it again, she said, "I don't know." That was helpful. "What do you remember?"

It took him a minute to think around his headache, but otherwise said, "We were heading for ramen after finishing a mission – "

"The mission with those nasty boys." she interrupted with her head nodding.

"Hmn."

"That's where I remember too." Tears formed and brimmed her eyes. "But Sasuke-kun. . . they keep telling me that was three weeks ago."

_Three weeks?_ Shock overrode his other senses. How could three weeks go by when that mission felt like it was just yesterday? Trauma – it automatically came to him. That one word had several scenarios entering his mind. Each scenario worst than the last one. He scanned over Sakura and then himself, and found no visible marks on them. It didn't mean though that other means weren't used. "How did we get here?"

Tears still threatened to fall when she answered, "Kakashi-sensei found us in the forest a couple days ago. We've been missing for two weeks by then." She wipe away the tears that got loose. "I woke up here yesterday. They said we all were going to be fine. That we were exhausted and you guys would wake up soon." More tears streamed down her face. "I was so afraid that you wouldn't wake up. And they keep checking and whispering about Naruto like something's wrong with him. I-I-I j-ju-just d-did-didn. . ." A sob cut her off, then another. She broke down and buried her face in the hospital blanket.

He barely paid any attention to her after the mention of his blond teammate. _Naruto._ Panic rose and it was so close to suffocating him. He turned in the opposite direction of Sakura and found Naruto laying unconscious on a hospital bed merely a few feet from him. This didn't help the constriction of his chest, it only worsened. It brought another series of images he couldn't slow down to see, just another spike of pain to his head, and a deep sense of dread that consumed him.

It was irrational, there was no reason for such a reaction. It wasn't like Naruto hasn't ever been in the hospital before. What made this time more different than those others? What made him think the blond wouldn't wake up?

The door opened then, and a nurse walked in. She paused in her stride when she saw him. Like a thousand watt bulb lighting up, she smiled. "Sasuke-kun, you're awake." He glared at her. It didn't deter her though as she continued, "How are you feeling? Any discomfort?"

He didn't speak, but his glare hardened when she stepped up to Naruto's bedside and began to check his vitals. Sakura picked herself up and wiped her face. She stared at the nurse and watched her every move as he was doing. His nerves were on edge with the amount of time she was taking.

With the way he was keeping an eye on the nurse's actions, the door banging open had him startling. The Hokage and Kakashi came in, the Hokage telling the nurse to leave. The older woman replaced the nurse's position and began to check the blond herself. He looked over to Kakashi and asked, "Is something wrong with him?"

Instead of answering him, the man asked, "What do you remember, Sasuke?"

"The same as me." Sakura answered for him.

"I believe I asked him, Sakura." Kakashi reprimanded her. "Now Sasuke, what's the last thing you remember?"

He glanced over at the Hokage and Naruto before speaking, "We were going to get ramen."

"Who were?" Kakashi interrupted. He gave the man an irritated look, losing his patience. "Who were with you?"

"Naruto, Sakura, and _you_."

"And we were going to get ramen after the successful mission at the Takehiro household."

His hand gripped the blanket to hold the anger that was searing just underneath the surface in. "Yes." he gritted out through clenched teeth.

Kakashi sighed, "You do realize Sasuke, that was three weeks ago."

"So I've been told."

A look passed between Kakashi and the Hokage. A look that didn't set well with him. It told of knowledge that he and Sakura weren't aware of. The Hokage moved to him when she was done checking Naruto. "What happened to us?" he questioned before she could begin.

"We don't know." she said in such a casual way that when she reached for his arm, he jerked the limb away from her.

"We disappeared for two weeks; you can't tell me you didn't find out anything."

"That's exactly what I can tell you." Her voice was stern as she straightened, hands on her hips, and glared down at him. "You three disappeared without a trace to your whereabouts. We found nothing, until Kakashi came back to Konoha one day with your unconscious bodies. There were no marks, no indication of what might have been done to you. Just. . ." she trailed off for a second before resuming, "We have no idea where any of you were for those two weeks. The only people who do, are you three."

"What's wrong with Naruto?" He didn't miss the slip-up. She was hiding something crucial about Naruto. If her actions didn't give any hint, his gut was screaming it. He watched closely, seeing the flash of sadness that crossed her features. She attempted to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "What's wrong with him?"

She didn't speak for a long moment, then her body went lax, like she lost the will to fight anymore. "When we examined the both of you, you two were fine – no signs of anything wrong. But with Naruto. . . we found something."

_It'd never stop. . ._ his mind unexpectedly thought. He vaguely wondered where it came from, but the unusual anxiety that filled him had him dismissing it.

"What? What did you find?" Sakura urged the Hokage to continue.

With his loose grip, the Hokage removed herself from his hold. "There's a bruise on his temporal lobe. A section of the brain where memories are stored." She paused, folding her arms underneath her breasts and gazing down at Naruto. "It's severe. There's a chance. . . There's a chance he won't ever wake up."

The thundering of his heartbeat filled his ears, blocking out the sound of Sakura's cries. His anxiety slowly began to numb by a hollowness that felt all too familiar. It seemed almost automatic, like this has happened too many times. Too many times. . . Slowly, he turned and looked over at Naruto. His breath caught at the sight of what he could only guess was reality distorting. Naruto's image kept merging back and forth between several different images of himself. Ones that all consisted of him laying in a hospital bed, unconscious.

He attempted to blink the delusion away, thinking that maybe his vision was playing tricks on him. That wasn't the case though. It continued, and he stared at the images. Images he's seemed to have seen before.

"Sasuke!"

He jerked his head to the one who called him. It was Kakashi. "What?" With the looks he was receiving from not only Kakashi, but the Hokage and Sakura also, he assumed his sensei had called his name for than once.

"There's one more question that needs to be answered, then you can get some rest." Kakashi said.

"You don't by chance remember the five kids you and the brat found in the forest?" the Hokage was the one who asked. "They could give us a clue to where you three might have been."

His head shook, he didn't remember finding any kids anywhere. "What kids?"

She sighed and lowered her gaze until her eyes were closed. A second later, they were back open and sharing another look with Kakashi. This time, Sasuke wasn't too worried about it, he was too busy turning back to Naruto. Only to find that the images were gone. He frowned, wondering if he was losing his mind. They looked so real. Too real. . .

Those images stayed with him, even as the Hokage checked him over, even after her and Kakashi left, and even through the rest of the day as he endured Sakura's presence. They continued to haunt him. Now he laid awake in bed, on his side facing Naruto, and still contemplated the meaning of them. The only reason he hasn't completely committed to being crazy was the recent memory loss. His mind could be trying to tell him what happened the past three weeks.

Yet, since those images, nothing else has happened. No more flashes – no more distorting, only the anxiousness to remember. The almost desperate need to know what occurred. If he didn't remember, it felt like something terrible was going to happen. Some event that would destroy him.

That night he got no sleep, absolutely none. And he was more than grateful that Sakura was discharged that day and had to go home to spend some time with her parents. That gave him some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, it was only temporary.

He spent his day watching over Naruto, waiting for him to wake up. He was always waiting. He seemed used to it. And that's what bothered him, because he shouldn't be used to it. There shouldn't be a bruised and beaten section of his heart where seeing Naruto particularly on death's door was a common sight. It shouldn't be like that. And he had to begrudgingly admit that maybe that scared him a little, because what if that's how it was. What if Naruto was the one getting hurt?

For some unknown reason, that really bothered him. He never thought about it before, what Naruto meant to him. Well, he didn't think he had. But ever since he woke up, that's all that's been running through his mind. Just Naruto. . . Just his dobe. . .

Sakura didn't come back all day, nor the next day when he was discharged. When she did return the following day, he was still there. Still waiting. . . That day though was Naruto's day to wake up. Since Sakura was the first, then him the next day, Naruto was due that day.

He never did.

And with the way the medics were talking, Naruto's outlook was looking grimmer with each day that passed. By the time a week went by, many of those same medics didn't expect him to wake up. That was the worst part, they were already preparing a more permanent room for him. Some even spoke of ending his life. That had Sasuke losing his small strand of control and had to have Kakashi get him off of them.

It was only hours later that Sasuke found himself sitting alone in the dark, the light from the streetlamps flooding in from the windows. Technically he wasn't alone, but he might as well have been. There has been no movement from Naruto in a week. No sign of him waking up. He hated to admit it, but he was losing hope. He hated the thought that he might just lose that bright light in his life that has been dark for so long. He didn't just hate it, he loathed it. He was terrified of it. . .

He lowered his face into his hands, feeling the fear rise through the hollowness he's been grasping desperately to. Hugging that hollowness around him like a cloak to protect him from breaking down and dealing with emotions he thought he long since buried.

It didn't work. Tears still burned his eyes, still threatened to fall. It was just finally hitting him, striking him hard. He had to take deep breaths to try and keep calm. To try and stop the pain that swelled in his chest. It was becoming impossible to restrain his emotions anymore. He jumped off the bed and began to pace. Back and forth. He had to keep moving. . . otherwise he knew he was going to fall apart.

That was a hard thing to realize – what Naruto could do to him. How deep his attachment to the blond really was; it scared him to death. He wouldn't know what he would do if Naruto never woke up. He stopped at the thought, an epiphany hitting him like a ton of bricks. With shock overriding his senses, he slowly turned and stared wide-eyed at Naruto. _His dobe. . ._ he's always referred to him. _His. . . _Maybe deep down he always knew.

The shock faded, and he was left with an emptiness that spread throughout his body. It was such a profound loss that it had him trembling. Because it didn't matter. No revelation was going to make his dobe wake up. . .

His foot unconsciously took a step forward, followed by the other. He soon found himself by the blond's bedside, staring down at the peacefulness that graced those tanned features. It hurt. It hurt more than he thought was possible. More than he thought he was capable of. He leaned in and rested his forehead against Naruto's. Hot tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes, burning a trail down his cheeks and dripping on Naruto's skin. He couldn't remember the last time he cried. No. . . he could. He just didn't want to. And now, he finally realized that maybe this weakness he had, he didn't want to ignore it anymore.

"Why won't you wake up?" he whispered, his lips mere inches from Naruto's. That space slowly disappeared, until their lips were lightly touching. The feel of the blond's lips had a shiver running down his spine. "I love you." He barely spoke aloud before he gently pressed his lips to Naruto's.

Electricity surged through him, causing flashes to run through his mind like a fast-forwarding movie. Unlike the other times, this was different. Even though they were speeding through his mind at a pace he couldn't keep up with in his mind's eye, he still knew exactly what they were showing him. His memories. Every event that took place in the future was now remembered like his gut knew he should.

It was enough to have his mind reeling and by the time Sasuke pulled back, it took him a moment before he could open his eyes. When he did, he lost his breath. Because right there, staring back at him drowsily, was a pair of sapphire orbs. Lazily, Naruto smiled up at him. . .

"Love you too, Sasuke."

**The End**

* * *

Yup, it's the end. There are some things that are left a mystery and are up to your own theories to fill in. Now there's not going to be a sequal, but I am making a series of time-traveling stories. Like the next in the series is going to be called, _Lithium of Ice_, which has nothing to do with this story. It's a complete other story all on its' own. I'll be putting the summary up a little later on my profile, but don't look for it right away.

Now for all those who have been waiting, I will be working on the sequel to _Webs of Deception_ . . . **_Veils of Deceit_**. So keep an eye out for it!


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